Tourism board, hotel owners lock horns over new licences

Hotel owners across the country have protested a move by the Uganda Tourism Board to shut down accommodation facilities that are not licensed by the board to operate.
The board, that by the law, regulates the hospitality sector issued a warning that those facilities operating without a licence issued by the board would be closed, sparking off immediate protests from the hotel owners who say they were never informed and consulted in advance.
“The Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), effective November 18, 2024, will commence the closure of all unlicensed accommodation facilities across the country in partnership with Uganda Police. This move follows the requirements set forth in the Uganda Tourism Act of 2008, which mandates that all accommodation facilities in Uganda must possess a valid tourism operating license to operate legally,” an October public notice issued by the Tourism board reads in part.
The board says the affected facilities include the hotels, lodges, guesthouses, motels, inns, serviced apartments, cottages, villas, hostels, tented camps, and farmhouses.
“To avoid closure, accommodation facility owners and managers are urged to promptly register their businesses with UTB and apply for a tourism operating licence,” the statement says.
“The UTB remains committed to ensuring quality standards in Uganda’s tourism sector and creating an enabling environment for all stakeholders,” the notice further says.
However, the notice has since drawn mixed reactions from the hotel owners with some saying it is in bad faith.
In Jinja, the director of Kava Motel on Victoria Close, Jinja City, Ms Hajira Musenero, said she is not aware of the new directive.
Ms Musenero said such a directive needs sensitisation because it involves incurring more money to acquire a licence from UTB.
“No sensitisation about the new directive and yet it comes with a fee, I think few people who are under Uganda Hotel Owners Association know about it, and they are about 30 percent but for me who is not part of it, I am just hearing it from you,” she said.
She also expressed concern over the increased number of taxes they pay as people in the hospitality business.
“We pay Uganda Revenue Authority, Uganda Registration Bureau, and Trading Licence. Now UTB is coming up with another licence. This is too much for us, we end up spending all the profits in paying for the licence,’’ she said.
Mr Dennis Kamukama, the manager of The Choate Boutique Hotel Kampala, said the decision by UTB will come back to bite the sector which is one of the biggest foreign currency earners.
“They have indeed passed the law. It is not a good decision because the Uganda Tourism Board did not do enough awareness to hotel owners and operators, the entire hotel industry is not well regulated, and there is nothing gainful in licensing our accommodation facilities. I think they should first put in place regulation tools,” he said.
UTB defence
Mr Gesa John Simplicious, the UTB spokesperson, however, said while the hoteliers are angry with the implementation of the directive, UTB is only implementing a law passed by the Parliament in the Tourism Act 2008.
He added that UTB has been engaging the hoteliers for a long period over the requirements of registration.
“It is also not true that we never consulted the hoteliers. We have been consulting them and each time we try to implement, they raise issues and we postpone the implementation, but now the time has come, and we have to act because we are also assessed by the government on this,” he said.
Mr Gesa also agreed with the hotel owners over the many taxes they are paying. He said UTB and the Ministry of Tourism are engaging different stakeholders to resolve the issue.
The director of Wonderland Guest House, based on Kiira Road in Jinja city, Dr Paul Kigenyi, said the idea by the government to compel guest houses to get operational licences from Uganda Tourism Board is beneficial.
“We have been lacking this link as guest house operators since we were not being identified by a binding body, therefore, registering with UTB will give us mileage in business,’’Dr Kigenyi said.
In Yumbe District, Mr Hussein Sadam the manager of Bayani Hotel, said the hotel has not yet been registered with the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) but plans are under way to register it.
"It is good to register the hotels and the accommodation facilities to conform to the standards set in place. We have some mushrooming hotels and accommodation facilities that are operating illegally and are not following the set standards and this will help to weed out such facilities,’’ he said.
"I attended one of the meetings with UTB in Arua recently but as Bayani, we are in the system of processing payment. We are going to register before the end of this month,’’ he added.
Mr Moses Mwebesa, the proprietor of Eitamba Eilungu and Ecolodge in Kamwege District, said their challenges are not looked into.
“We have issues with districts neighbouring national parks that lack guidance due to lack of tourism officers. I appeal to the President to intervene and make sure this mess is dealt with accordingly because we have been paying taxes even before the coming of this licence,” he said.
Optimistic
Mr Edwin Tumwijukye, the marketing manager of Hotel Triangle Mbarara, asked the accommodation owners to respect the directive.
“Accommodation owners should not wait to have their facilities licensed and by the way, it is not even expensive, they are required to present a few documents and just Shs200,000. At the end of the day, the Uganda Tourism Board is the body that regulates. It is helpful, every hotel manager or owner should embrace it and no one should work in darkness,” he said. 
Members of the Uganda Tourism Board and locals visit Sipi Falls in Kapchorwa District in 2021. Hotel owners across the country have protested a move by the Uganda Tourism Board to shut down accommodation facilities that are not licenced by the board.
$1.4B
Presently, tourism is Uganda’s leading source of forex revenue contributing $1.4b to the country’s earnings in the financial year 2022/23. It is possible for tourism to unlock the many possibilities that are still tied up for Uganda and to make an even more significant GDP contribution through strategic country branding.
*Compiled by Franklin Draku, Robert Elema, Tausi Nakato, Abubaker Kirunda, Julius Byamukam, Hillary Twinamatsiko & Felix Ainebyoona