KAMPALA — Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has introduced new tariffs for tourists wishing to visit national parks as it responds to the rising costs of managing the parks.
The new park entry permits will according to Mr. Bashir Hagai, the UWA spokesperson encourage influx of domestic tourists and film makers into the parks.
The tariffs, which will take effect at the beginning of January next year, permits for tracking Golden Monkeys in Mgahinga National Park and the other parks have however been increased for different sets of tourists.
Mr. Hagai said the permit has risen from USD 90 to USD 100 for foreign non-residents while foreigners living in Uganda will pay USD 90, up from USD 80.
The new rates will also see foreigners coming to track Chimpanzee in the various national parks pay USD 200, up from USD 150 while foreigners resident in Uganda will pay 150 US dollars from 100 US dollars previously.
East Africans including Ugandans will pay UGX 150,000 up from UGX 100,000 in the new arrangement.
UWA has however maintained the permits for Chimpanzee habituation experience for Ugandans at UGX150,000, but slightly increased those of foreigners from 200 US dollars to 250 US dollars.
Bashir says Commercial filming fees which stood at 630 Dollars a day for foreign residents and foreign non-residents will now be charged at 40 percent of the permit.
He explains that filming permits has also been thrown open for Ugandans.
Last year, Gorilla permits sales increased from 30,000 to 43,000 with peak season sales of over 100% throughout the year. The Authority says tourists’ arrivals also increased by 10 percent from 303,000 in 2017 to more than 344,000 tourists in 2018, earning the country in excess of 115 Billion shillings.
Murchison Falls National Park recorded the largest number of visitors at 104,000 followed by Queen Elizabeth National Park with over 84,000 in 2018. Uganda Wildlife Authority says park entry fees for East African residents inclusive of Ugandans will be maintained at 250,000 Uganda shillings per person for single entry to boost domestic tourism this year.
