The influence of human activities on sustainable tourism development in Uganda:

Abstract

Murchison falls national park has faced several serious problems like; collection of firewood for cooking and charcoal, the poles for electricity in the country, poaching of animals for food and income, over cultivation. These problems seem to affect the sustainable tourism development if not addressed. Uganda was endowed with a wide range of tourism resources in 2020, including the biodiversity, varied landscapes, and religious heritage. Tourism sector in Uganda has grown rapidly with a total contribution of 7.3% to the Growth Depression Product in 2019 before outbreak of Covid 19 pandemic disease. In the year 2018/2019, the tourism sector in Uganda contributed 6.7% to the national employment where it created around 667,600 both indirect and direct jobs Ezra et al., (2021). During covid-19, there was a decline of approximately 55% while other sectors suffered only moderately drops, so the tourism and travel sector contributed 2.5% to Uganda’sGDP in 2020-2021. There is a steadily growing tourist numbers estimated to have reached 1.5 million per year, contributing7.7% to GDP Makuyana & Africa, (2023). And finally, Murchison falls national park is located in north western part of Uganda is shared by districts such as Bullisa, Masindi among others. Like any other park, Murchison is surrounded by dense human populations. The commonest threat is harvesting of firewood and poles, poaching animals for food and income and over cultivation for agriculture among others and this affects sustainable tourism development, Makuyana and Africa, (2023)