Kenya violence 'costs' Uganda
2008-01-25 14:54
Nairobi - Tourist arrivals in Uganda have dropped by up to 30% since post-election violence in neighbouring Kenya rocked the region, say tourism officials.
"Our numbers (of tourists) have gone down by 20, 30%," Edwin Muzahura, spokesperson for the Uganda Tourist Board, said.
According to the board, tourism was the fastest-growing sector in Uganda and more than half a million arrivals in 2007 injected $375m into the economy.
The country is a popular tourist destination thanks to its gorillas, chimpanzee sanctuaries and waterfalls. "We have suffered a lot - Uganda is largely marketed through Kenya," Muzahura said.
Foreign tour operators often organised holiday packages that included both countries, beginning on Kenya's beaches and ending in Uganda's gorilla-inhabited forests.
But Kenya's December 27 elections, which saw incumbent President Mwai Kibaki re-elected in a race opposition leader Raila Odinga alleged was rigged, broke into countrywide riots and tribal revenge killings.
Images of hacked Kenyans and women and children burnt alive scared off visitors during east Africa's peak tourism season.
Close to 800 people had been killed and a quarter of a million uprooted by Kenya's political crisis.