Uganda Opens Airport and borders for Tourists
Uganda Opens Airport and borders for Tourists: The Uganda Tourism Industry is in celebrations today after the Entebbe International Airport and all Ugandan borders were declared now open for tourists by the president of Uganda. This exciting news was delivered to the nation by the president of the republic of Uganda, His Excellency Yoweri Katuga Museveni yesterday 20th September 2020 as he addressed the nation on the country’s state on the fight of COVID19.
The reopening of the Entebbe International Airport and Ugandan borders is a huge push towards the restarting of the Ugandan tourism industry that has greatly suffered from the lockdown which has gone for 5 months now since March 2020. Though the savannah game parks and several tourism sites have been open for a few months now and the primate parks open for nearly a month now, the airport and borders being closed had made the traffic of visitors to these place low which had greatly been affecting the operations of these places. Now that the airport and borders are open, we expect the visitor traffic to the all game parks (savannah and primate) and tourism sites to increase and to become more frequent.
The opening of the Entebbe International airport and the Ugandan borders literally means that:-
- Tourists wishing to visit the pearl of Africa are welcome to visit the country and are now free to enter and exit the country as they please.
- Tourists are now able to tour the different game parks and tourism sites in the country.
- Tourists are now able to use Entebbe International airport and other Ugandan borders to access Uganda.
- Tourists are also able to use different Ugandan borders to access Uganda.
The president emphasized however that the tourists coming into Uganda should have tested negative of Covid19, 72 hours before arriving in Uganda; that without these results a tourist may risk not being allowed access into Uganda.
The tour operators have also be advised to ensure that tourists don’t mix with Ugandans or Ugandan residents during their stay in the country. This should be done by creating and implementing well-coordinated safari itineraries that are in line with the COVID9 standard operating procedures.
The tourists are further still expected to observe all the covid19 standard operating procedures even on their safaris, procedures that include maintaining a social distance of 6ft or 2m distance from other persons, wearing a face mask while in public, sanitising or washing their hands with soap routinely.
Uganda is a rich hub of tourist destinations and attractions that attract over a million tourists to the pearl of Africa each year that come to experience several attractions that include but are not limited to mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, land mammals, water mammals, bird species, unique landscapes, several natural features among others.
Tourists visiting Uganda this season should expect to enjoy safaris that range from range from mountain gorilla trekking safaris, chimpanzee trekking safaris, game viewing safaris, bird viewing safaris, cultural safaris, historic site touring safaris, hiking safaris among other safaris.
For persons intending to go mountain gorilla trekking and chimpanzee trekking safaris will also be expected to maintain specific standard operating procedures that will be communicated by the tour operators and the Uganda Wildlife Authority. These specific standard operating procedures are to help protect the mountain gorillas and the chimpanzees from catching the deadly coronavirus disease; since these primates have similar DNAs with humans they are prone to catching the coronavirus disease.
Focus East Africa tours is ready to create and implement tailor-made itineraries within the COVID19 standards to give you a memorable safari even with the observation of the COVID19 standard operation procedures.
