By Arinda Wilfred Nsheeka
Political unrest in the country scare away tourists, according to one of the tour operators in the country.
Lilian Kamusiime,is the CEO of Biota tours, located in the heart of Kabale town and is the deputy chairperson of the Uganda safari guides association (USAGA).
Kamusiime, while speaking to our reporter at her hotel said that tourists would cease to come to Uganda if the political unrests continued to happen in the country.
“Political violence is bad news for a country’s tourism even if no tourist ever becomes physically harmed or killed ” Kamusiime said.
Kamusiime wondered if any tourist would brave the unrest to come to Uganda.
“Few foreign visitors would be willing to brave the unrest and venture to Uganda despite out magnificent landscape and our famous gorillas ” Kamusiime added.
Kamusiime told our reporter of one of her foreign friends who asked her to assure her of safety if she came to Uganda.
Kamusiime’s warning comes after a few weeks of political unrest in the country.
News of political violence in Uganda grabbed international news headlines when the pop star turned politician Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine with other 32 were allegedly tortured during the Arua municipality bye elections.
Popular news companies in the world – the likes of CNN, AL Jazeera, BBC, Voice of America, including the Washington post and many others reported about the political unrest in Uganda – which scared away some tourists
Tourism is regarded as Uganda’s most foreign exchange earner – and so political unrest would be causing an alarm in a country where inflation is at its peak.
While protests and clashes maybe inevitable in an emerging democracy, they also tend to have a chilling effect on the millions of tourists who might otherwise come to Uganda to photograph gorillas and visit Queen Elizabeth National park.
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