Tourism in Uganda is growing at a fast rate and news coming from UWA is that Uganda Wildlife Authority is to offer free entrance for tour company driver guides (Complimentary entrance) to all driver guides working for tour companies in Uganda and also to safari guides with professional certificates from certified institutions. This comes as of good working relationship between Uganda Wildlife Authority, AUTO-Association of Uganda Tour Operators and Uganda Safari Guides Associations such as USAGA.

Uganda Wildlife Authority to offer free entrance for Tour company driver guides and safari guides

According to a letter written to the Association of Uganda tour Operators (AUTO) by Mr Stephen Masaba The Director, Tourism and Business Services at Uganda Wildlife Authority, Tour company Drivers are the drivers that bring tourists in tour vehicles while Safari Guides are professional guides with qualifications from certified institutions. The reason for offering this free entrance to tour company drivers is that they are only conveying visitors and not purposely coming to enjoy the parks. He further states that Uganda Wildlife Authority will try to verify the status of safari guides with the help of Uganda Tourism Board in order to give them special Passes as safari guides. Also that in some cases where a guide may be a driver, other passengers will pay. He further noted there are many tourists who get off business and have to resort to any available means of transport to the park. In this case, Uganda Wildlife Authority will work with stages and associations neigbouring the parks to verify and recommend drivers within their associations who will be offered the taxi driver passes.

This free entrance for tour company driver guides is a welcome development as it reduces on the overall cost of a given package to visit top National Parks in Uganda such as Murchison Falls National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kidepo National Park where guides have been paying to enter these parks. Tour guides are the people that stay with tourists from the beginning to the end of the tour. For them to do their work properly, they need such support and complimentary from UWA and Lodges. We hope that with this free entrance for tour company drivers, by Uganda Wildlife Authority, also lodges will proceed by offering complimentary accommodation for guides.