The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has announced that the tariff for gorilla permits will be raised from the current US$600 to $700 from July 1, 2020.
The increase is due to the high demand for gorilla permits over the past two years. An overflow of tourists looking for the permits means that supply has been unable to meet demand. The permit is issued by the UWA and allows visitors to track the mountain gorillas in their natural habitats.
The country’s 10 national parks attracted record numbers of visitors last year and further increases are anticipated for 2019, with the first half of the year already recording many more visitors compared with the same period last year.
Due to the high demand for gorilla tracking permits, UWA has also increased the number of gorilla families for tracking from 15 to 17, following the successful habituation of the Katwe group in Buhoma and Christmas group in Nkuringo.
Even with the increase, Uganda remains cheaper than Rwanda, whose gorilla tracking permits are currently US$1 500 per person per day. Rwanda doubled the price of its permits in May 2017 to strengthen conservation efforts and contribute to community development and the improvement of the livelihoods of communities living around national parks.
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