VAT on accommodation is protested by safari operators.-Prime Uganda Safaris & Tours Safari updates

vatSafaris in Uganda are to be sold expensively due to the introduction of 18 percent VAT on hotel and lodge accommodation which will have devastating consequences on leisure tourism to Uganda’ said a regular tourism source in Kampala yesterday, when discussing the immediate impact of the restoration of VAT for hotel accommodation.
Tour and safari operators in Africa are bound by contract to maintain quoted rates for safaris for up to 18 months ahead, and are now stuck with the added cost, which if to be absorbed will render the safari businesses not just profitless but turn it into a loss maker.
Ministry of Finance sources on condition of not being named denied any impact of the VAT decision, showing their blatant ignorance about the inner workings of a sector, which has for years, despite of government neglect, grown, albeit at a pace fare slower than it could have, compared to for instance neighboring Rwanda, where tourism has been understood and embraced at the highest level of government and is being facilitated to create prosperity.
Gorilla safaris are at a risky hence Leading stakeholders have in recent days gone on rare record in the media over these actions, accusing government of not just mere lip service towards the sector but of creating a work environment radically opposed to the often talked about ‘enabling environment’, a phrase often used to self glorify economic advances even if glaringly absent.
What they have done is create a disabling environment for the tourism industry. The tourist board which is supposed to promote the country got a paltry 250 million Uganda Shillings. What the hell are they thinking that can do other than pay rent and utilities and maybe staff’ ranted another regular source, for obvious reasons wishing to remain anonymous.
Increased VAT on the accommodation will greatly affect gorilla safaris in Africa and specifically Uganda and also this will lead to job losses in the sector and will only make an already tough situation more difficult. Others of our neighbors treat tourism as a priority sector and here it is almost as if we are punished. Maybe they want to reduce tourism so that oil exploration can go ahead without us raising issues like in Murchison’s, where they want to pump oil in a wildlife park.
Uganda Safari operators in turn say they have no legal option but to accept the added cost, which hotels say they most reluctantly added to their bills but for fear of being raided by the Uganda Revenue Authority and made an example of should they fail to charge and remit the new tax burden.
Uganda Safaris/ Uganda Safari News
Prime Uganda Safaris & Tours updates 2013

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WHERE CAN YOU FIND & SEE GORILLAS IN UGANDA AFRICA?

Image
Uganda has only two national parks where one can see gorillas i.e Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park and this is where g orilla trekking in Uganda is done to search and find  the rear endangered Mountain Gorillas . With about 1063 mountain gorillas that still exist on earth today, Uganda is home to more than half of all these endangered Great Apes making it one of the only 3 countries in the world where mountain gorillas live and Uganda gorilla tours are only done in there two national parks. Uganda has 20 gorilla families that have been habituated and already set for tourism purposes , 19 of which are tracked/found in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and only 1 is found in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is one  of the places where you can see Gorillas in Uganda Africa. The appropriately named Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (also called “The Place of Darkness”) is the world’s premier gorilla t
Read more

Mountain Gorilla Behavior,Diet,Threats and Predators

http://www.primeugandasafaris.com/gorilla-safaris/5-days-uganda-gorilla-safari.html Behavior  Although strong and powerful, gorillas are generally gentle,shy ,retiring rather than ferocious and treacherous . They live in groups of 2-40 individuals, averaging about 11. Groups are led by a dominant male, the Silverback, named for the silvery gray hairs that grow when the male matures. The Silverback serves as the chief leader and protector of the group, to whom all group members defer. He decides when and where to go, rest and sleep, arbitrates disputes among his family members and protects them from rival Silverbacks or human predators. Gorillas usually seeks no trouble but will valiantly defend its family group if threatened. An adult male called a silverback named for the silvery gray hairs on its back normally leads each group, serving as its chief protector and defender. Gorillas
Read more

SHELLEY’S CRIMSONWING; THE BIRDS OF UGANDA – UGANDA SAFARI NEWS

Image
With over 1057 species of birds, the birding safaris and tours in Uganda go beyond the ordinary. Among these species of birds, there is the eye catching Shelley’s Crimsonwing scientifically referred as Cryptospiza Shelleyi. The Shelley’s Crimsonwing is categorized among the estrildid finch species thrives in closed canopy moist forests, close to water valley bottoms, low secondary growth at the edges of forests, glades and forest clearings marked by extensive herbs, moorland and Bamboo thickets. The birders on Uganda safaris can explore the Shelley Crimsonwing in the Mountains of the Albertine rift valley including Rwenzori Mountains. This Species stretch to other famous parts in the region including the Virunga Mountains, the Kahuzi Biega Mountain, Itombwe Mountain as explored on Congo Safaris and tours and Nyungwe Forest National Park and Gishwati Mukura National Park as explored on Safaris in Rwanda . Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to the south west of Uganda is
Read more