Raul Patidar, the chairman of Entebbe hoteliers, says that the bookings that had reached 90 percent in the same period in 2019 currently stand at between 40 and60 percent at most hotels.
The recent Kampala City twin bombings and the ever-changing global travel restrictions because of the
COVID-19 pandemic affecting the hotel bookings in Entebbe municipality this festive season.
Entebbe municipality is home to close to 800 hotels, guesthouses, and lodges. Most of the facilities have 40 to
70 rooms and conference
facilities due to their rich historical, socio-political and cultural
heritage and attractions.
The attractions include Entebbe International Airport, natural sand beaches,
botanical gardens, zoo, equator, reptile village, Mapeera, and Brother Almans'
monument in Kigungu among others. However,
Raul Patidar, the chairman of Entebbe hoteliers, says that the bookings that had reached 90 percent in the
same period in 2019 currently stand at
between 40
and60 percent at most hotels.
Patidar, who is also the managing director of
Saffron Beach Bistro and Cottages along Bambi Road in Manyago village, says that the big hotels with over 70 rooms such as Lake Victoria, Protea
Hotel by Marriott, Imperial Botanical Beach Hotel, Imperial Golf View Hotel, and
Imperial Resort Beach Hotel are busy because families and groups love staying
in Entebbe during Christmas and the new year.
"So most of the hotels are busy from
December 23rd to 27th with occupancy rates above 40 percent," Patidar said. He says that medium and small-sized hotels and
guesthouses like his are fully booked until the new year. Saffron
Beach Bistro and Cottages has seven rooms and they are all booked until
December 28.
Our reporter visited some of the hotels such as Protea, Anderita, Imperial Resort Beach and
found that most of them were fully booked for the Christmas weekend for accommodation, parties, and wedding receptions. At Protea, a salesperson said the hotel is
fully booked from December 25 to 30.
" We have 78 rooms and they are fully
booked or occupied at the moment. But we have ten rooms available on December
31, 2021, and January 1st, 2022," the salesman said. To increase its bookings, the salesman, said that the hotel is charging US$ 145 (approx.
UGX 513,000) and US$
210 (approx UGX 707,000 for single and double rooms respectively for those who will spend more than one night and US$ 160 (approx. 566,000 and US$ 300
(approx. 1,061, 696) for one night for the same rooms.
A salesman at Anderita Beach Hotel said that 30 percent of their 12
rooms are
booked this season. It also cut the prices for rooms from between Shillings 180,000 and Shillings 220,000 to Shillings 120,000 and Shillings 150,000 respectively because of the low
volume of business. Patidar says the average price for rooms in
Entebbe is now US$ 100 (approx. 356,000) down
from US$ 200 (approx. 707,000) before the COVID-19
outbreak.
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He attributed the low bookings to the recent
bombings in Kampala, bomb
threats in some parts of the country, and the ever-changing
travel restrictions aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19 and its variants. The Omicron variant has cast a shadow over the holidays
as countries consider new measures namely lockdown and quarantine.
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Patidar and other hoteliers are praying for a full
re-opening of the economy and an end to the COVID-19
pandemic to allow the hospitality and tourism industry to fully recover. Full
recovery will imply that foreign and domestic guests can book and stay in
hotels for holidays, meetings, and parties.
He says that currently, their potential
clients have stayed away from beach hotels and restaurants in Entebbe due to curfew.
They even don't come to Entebbe because most of the beaches are underwater," Patidar explains. The beaches were submerged early last year following the increase of the water
levels in Lake
Victoria.
