Isa Kato says tourists are cancelling tips to Uganda over delays in releasing Covid results at the airport
Tour operators are reporting losses following cancelation of trips to Uganda by tourists.
The operators say tourists are citing delays in releasing Covid-19 test results on arrival at the Airport as the reasons for cancellation.
Isa Kato, a tour operator says travelers with valid negative PCR tests and are vaccinated fully shouldn’t be subjected to fresh tests.
Kato suggests that Uganda needs to benchmark what other countries are doing to avoid frustrating travelers.
“Travelers who are fully vaccinated and are holding a negative PCR test result should not be tested again,” he says and adds “maybe the focus should be on travelers from ‘Red List’ countries.
But even then, Kato says “let them be tested using Rapid Testing so that in 15 minutes people are going away from the airport.”
Kato reveals that several tourists have canceled their trips to Uganda citing frustration at Entebbe International Airport.
“Tourists keep canceling and advising others not travel to Uganda citing confusion and gross frustration at Entebbe International Airport,” he says.
Previously, Uganda only authorised compulsory testing for people arriving from 10 “high risk” countries, including India but Health Minister, Jane Ruth Aceng, says that the coronavirus tests would continue but results dispatched in under two hours via email or instant messaging apps.
Uganda is the only country in the region still on strict Covid-19 lockdown measures.
-URN