Lira, (UG):- The Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) has echoed a stern warning to close down all unregistered hotels and accommodation facilities in Lira City that are not registered with the Board.
Ms Angela Nalugo, the Uganda Tourism Board Quality Assurance Officer made the warning on Friday, April 26, while training hotel owners and managers on grading and classification of accommodation facilities at Hotel Good News in Lira City.
The objective of the training aimed to raise awareness among hoteliers about the importance of hotel grading and classification and encourage hoteliers to get their facilities registered, inspected, licensed and graded to meet standards among others.
Ms Nalugo explained that UTB is making an effort to educate and sensitize all stakeholders in the hospitality industry and if by the stipulated time one falls below standards, they will face the strong arm of the law.
She said failure to adhere to the regulatory framework outlined in the Uganda Tourism Act can result in fines or two years imprisonment for offenders.
“You being registered by UTB is a Must. You actually subjected to two years imprisonment for not registering and being licensed according to Uganda Tourism Act 2008,” Nalugo said.
“A team of 864 police officers has already been trained and will be deployed across the country to enforce compliance with the Uganda Tourism Act 2008, which prohibits the operation of tourism enterprises without valid licenses issued by UTB,” she added.
Ms Nalugo said UTB wishes to see Lira City growing day by day because of its tourism potentials which only need improvement on the services they offer by embracing employing professionals to manage the hotel business.
“Everybody talks about Uganda as a beautiful country and a friendly country but it will be very hard to market Uganda where people will go to hotels and find bedbugs and cockroaches in the rooms. It is hard for us to market a hotel that has no star rating. When you are graded and have a star rating it is a promise and assures the guess of what they are expecting from your facilities but also guides your pricing,” She explained.
Meanwhile, Mr Richard Okello Odyek, the Lira City Commercial officer, echoed the need for regular training of hoteliers to not only maintain high standards of service delivery but also adopt more creative approaches in the hospitality and tourism sector by UTB.
Mr Okello also urged all unlicensed establishments to register and obtain valid licenses, failing which they face closure. He said this aligns with Sections 13 and 14 of the Uganda Tourism Act 2008, which prohibits the operation of tourism enterprises without the necessary licenses.
“You can’t do Business when you are not formal. Stakeholders in the hospitality industry, comply with the set standards if they are to compete internationally. That way you have many benefits including tax exemplar from government among others,” Mr Okello said.
Ronald Rimbosh Okello, quality assurance officer of inventory and classification at Uganda Tourism Board said only 5 facilities are registered on the UTB system and have one step ahead to be licensed.
Trainees speak out
Abubakar Musa, a proprietor of Lake Kwania Heritage Village commended UTB’s efforts to regulate the tourism sector and create a conducive business environment and highlighted that the role of licensing is to ensure that businesses contribute positively to society.
“The challenge always is that people put a lot of money in a hospitable business but failed to run it properly but thanks to UTB for training us on how to progress and manage those challenges,” Musa remarked.
Moses Opolot, a Hotelier by profession and manager Kumar Hotel Lira gave related opinions, saying the UTB training has increased his skills and take weak performing areas with concern.
“We used not to have enough knowledge on classification but today’s knowledge will help us train our juniors on how to improve our services so that when graded we are somewhere in terms of rating.
Opolot implored Hotel Owners to involve professional hoteliers in the initial planning stages so that they don’t make mistakes when putting the physical infractures.
Lira City boasts of high-end hospitality and accommodation facilities such as Pacific Grand Hotel, Sun City Hotel, Zeagan Hotel, Galaxy Country, and Tursher Hotel that are yet to be licensed and have already embarked on the process of getting inspected and graded towards the process.
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