LOCKDOWN: Hotel bookings still paralysed
The outbreak of the coronavirus has eaten up approximately 93% of hotel bookings, leaving the hospitality industry paralysed, sector players have said.
They said hotels and lodges are struggling since they were allowed to reopen for business in May due to stringent standard operating procedures (SOPs), and operating capital constraints.
In March this year, the Government instituted a general lockdown to curtail the spread of COVID-19, leaving most social and economic activities paralysed, including the hospitality industry.
"Total bookings in all the hotels now range between 2% and 7%, which is a big drop. We had envisioned this year to be our best, but now there is not much to talk about because of the pandemic," Jean Byamugisha, the Uganda Hotel Owners Association (UHOA) chief executive officer, said.
Currently, UHOA boasts 400 registered hotels and sleeping places across the country, although statistics from the tourism master plan indicate there are more than 3,000 hotels, lodges, inns and guest houses across the country.
Byamugisha said the coronavirus is threatening the tourism and hospitality industry, believed to be the major forex earner for the country.
She said last year, the sector brought into the national coffers $1.6b and employed more than 660,000 people, with more than 150,000 additional tourism jobs expected to be created by 2024.
Byamugisha said it may take the sector about five years to fully recover from the effects of the pandemic. "Right now, there is no revenue coming in, but the overheads, taxes and salaries remained the same. So you cannot say we are operating.
As we speak, there is no tourism in the country, yet performance of our sector depends on that.
The low hanging fruit is domestic tourism, which we are trying to promote, but we are cognisant of the fact that domestic tourism alone cannot sustain the sector or this economy," she said.
Byamugisha said before COVID-19, there were a number of international meetings that were scheduled to take place in Uganda, but have since been cancelled.
She said last year, Uganda's performance on the MICE index had shifted to number six in Africa, while international arrivals had increased to 1.6 million, but may have receded five years due to COVID-19.
Recently, the European Union (EU) extended a euros 6m (about sh25b) grant to support the private tourism sector to recover from the effects of the global pandemic and sustain existing jobs.
The grant, according to a statement from the EU, will be channelled through Uganda Development Bank, where actors can access it at a discounted rate of 8%.
"We have been engaging international partners to look for stimulus packages to help the hotels get back to normal operations. We are glad that the EU has given us a grant to help hotels with operational materials," Byamugisha said.