On September 8th, 2021, Parliament adopted a raft of recommendations to revive the economy, currently battered by the Covid-19 pandemic, key among which is the implementation of a Tourism Development Levy.
“The Committee proposes a levy of $10 to be charged on each ticket for every person who departs from Uganda by air transport,” said MP Mwine Mpaka, in recommendations unanimously adopted by the House.
The House also adopted the manner in which the proceeds should be shared, with 70 percent being proposed to cushion private sector players in the tourism sector.
The 70 percent is to be managed by Post Bank Uganda and the Ministries of Finance and Tourism who will formulate a plan to guide access to the funds.
20 percent is proposed to finance the aggressive marketing drive by the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) and the 10 percent reverts to the taxman, who is also in charge of collecting the funds
Yesterday, the Minister of State for Tourism, Martin Mugara defended the proposal by the Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Industry, and Tourism to introduce a Tourism Development Tax.
The minister was launching the parliamentary Forum for conservation and sustainable Tourism held at Hotel Africana in Kampala.
Minister Mugara said that he is not happy with some players in the tourism sector opposing the proposed Tourism Development Levy.
He says that Uganda was affected so much by the Covid-19 pandemic, but tourism is currently the quickest recovering sector.
He says that by the end of this year, Uganda will hit revenue earnings worth Shs1 Billion despite the impact of COVID -19 induced lockdowns.
The question most Ugandans have is, what is the logic behind targeting “every person who departs from Uganda by air transport”? What do they and planes have to do with tourism that those coming in or using road and railway do not?