Domestic tourism suspends as COVID-19 cases surge in Uganda

Tourism Official on Friday reported that Uganda had suspended domestic tourism amid rising cases of COVID-19.

Lilly Ajarova, chief executive officer of the Uganda Tourism Board, told Xinhua by telephone that the COVID-19 National Taskforce made the decision to suspend local tourism but allowed foreigners to keep coming in.

“Everyone should remain in one place in a bid to curb the spread,” she said.

Ajarova said the tourism sector was picking up before the new lockdown saying “we were running a successful campaign aimed at encouraging domestic tourism. The lockdown will set us back.”

Tanzania’s president urges public not to ignore COVID-19

She added that the new wave of the pandemic would also affect international arrivals as some countries had placed Uganda on their red lists.

According to the tourism ministry, Uganda used to earn over 1.6 billion dollars annually from the tourism sector, but the country’s tourism earnings in 2020 dropped by 73 percent due to the pandemic.