KAMPALA, (Xinhua) -- Uganda Tourist Association has warned local tour operators against pricing outside the global market as the financial crisis hits.

Geoffrey Baluku, a member of the Uganda Tourist Association, noted that because of competition from neighboring countries like Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda, the operators should avoid the urge to charge fees that are higher than the global market price.

"With the deepening of the global financial crisis and economic slowdown, there is a rise of new challenges ranging from safari cancellations to soaring inflation," Baluku was quoted by the state-owned New Vision daily on Monday as saying.

According to Baluku, a total of 843,864 foreigners visited the East African country of Uganda in the year 2008, representing a 32 percent increase over 2007.

"As a key contributor to Uganda’s GDP (gross domestic product), tourism accounted for 3.7 percent of the total GDP in 2008. Despite this increase, it is clear that Uganda’s tourism industry is facing difficult times as a result of the financial meltdown," he said.

Baluku, who is also the public relations officer of the Association of Uganda Tour Operators, noted that the tourism industry was vulnerable to financial slowdowns with consumers spending less on travel products in the short-and-medium terms.

He added that expenditure on accommodation and gorilla permits had decreased drastically as visitors chose more affordable safari options.

"There was growing optimism that Uganda would soon achieve the million-foreign-visitor mark by 2012," he said.

"However, with the current global economic meltdown characterized by the upcoming tense elections in 2011, the effect on Uganda’s tourism industry is likely to be worse," said Baluku.

Baluku said the unstable fuel costs and fluctuating dollar rate meant that long-haul tourism was on the decline, particularly for middle income tourists, adding that this had already had an effect on Uganda’s tourism industry.

"As long-haul travel becomes increasingly unaffordable, the integration of the East African region is now paramount for the region to achieve its tourism targets," he said

"Reasonable controls such as some degree of protection for the Ugandan tour operators should be taken into consideration as we go into the final stages of the re-integration," he urged.

special report by xinhua correspondent Ronald Ssekandi

By Special correspondent