The UTB licence and the guest register every Ugandan lodge must keep

Since late 2024 the Uganda Tourism Board has been closing accommodation facilities that operate without a licence. The notice caught many small lodges by surprise, but the underlying rules are not new: they come from the Tourism Act of 2008 and regulations made in 2013. Here is what those rules ask of an owner, in plain terms.

Who must be licensed

UTB's public notice of October 2024 stated that, effective 18 November 2024, it would "commence the closure of all unlicensed accommodation facilities across the country in partnership with Uganda Police". The categories named were hotels, lodges, guesthouses, motels, inns, serviced apartments, cottages, villas, hostels, tented camps and farm houses. The legal basis given is the Uganda Tourism Act 2008, which UTB says "mandates that all accommodation facilities in Uganda must possess a valid tourism operating license".

UTB has also described its mandate under Section 7 of the Act as covering "registration, inspection, licensing, grading, and classification of tourism enterprises and services". Registration is done online through the Quality Assurance System at qasystem.utb.go.ug, with payments processed through URA. UTB has said that once the minimum requirements are met the licence and certificate are emailed, and only the inspection itself is done physically at the premises.

Registration first, then the licence

The Uganda Tourism (Registration and Licensing of Tourist Accommodation) Regulations, 2013 set out a two-step process. An owner first applies for registration and receives a certificate of registration; only a registered accommodation can then be issued a licence. Regulation 8 requires the owner to "afford free access to every part of the premises" to an inspector carrying out an inspection for registration or licensing.

Schedule 3 of the regulations lists the application fee for registration at UGX 200,000 for each type of accommodation, from hotels and lodges to hostels, bed and breakfasts, cottages and tented camps. The licence is separate: regulation 18(5) says "a licence shall be issued for a period of one year, calculated from the date of issue", and regulation 19 says licence fees "shall be paid annually and shall be assessed on the basis of the different classes of tourist accommodation". Put the renewal date in your calendar the day the licence arrives.

The guest register

The part of the regulations most owners have never read is regulation 15, "Guest register and returns". The owner "shall keep a register at the premises" and, on the arrival of each guest, enter:

• the name of the guest, or the tour operator's name for a group;
• citizenship or country of residence;
• permanent postal address of the guest or tour operator;
• number of persons in a group;
• date of arrival;
• number of nights booked;
• room number;
• purpose of visit;
• registration number of the vehicle the guest is travelling with, if any;
• name of the next destination;
• signature of the guest or tour operator; and
• the envisaged date of departure.

Regulation 15(3) then requires the owner to submit to the Board, "within a period of ten working days at the end of each quarter, monthly returns relating to the accommodation of guests".

The penalties

Failing to keep the register or to file the returns is an offence under regulation 15(4), carrying "a fine not exceeding twenty four currency points or imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or both". Schedule 1 of the regulations sets a currency point at twenty thousand shillings, so the maximum fine is UGX 480,000. The same ceiling applies to the general offences clause in regulation 22, and to operating without registration or a licence.

What this means for the front desk

Most lodges already collect most of these details at check-in; the gap is usually the signature, the vehicle number, the next destination and the discipline of doing it for every guest, including walk-ins at midnight. Three practical steps:

1. Make the registration card match the twelve items in regulation 15 exactly, in the same order, so nothing is skipped.
2. Capture the data once, at check-in, in the system that also opens the folio. A paper register copied from the booking sheet is where errors creep in.
3. Run the quarterly return from the same data. If every stay has an arrival date, nights and nationality, the monthly figures for the Board are a filter, not a weekend of typing.

Before the inspector comes

Keep the certificate of registration and the current licence at the desk, know the renewal date, and be able to show the register for any month the inspector names. A well-run property with no paperwork to show is still an unlicensed property in the eyes of the Board. The regulations have been in force since 2013, and the Board is now enforcing them.

Sources

1. https://utb.go.ug/closure-of-unlicensed-accommodation-facilities/
2. https://businesslicences.go.ug/kcfinder/upload/files/Registration%20and%20licencing%20UTB.pdf
3. https://utb.go.ug/utb-inspects-for-minimum-standards-in-accomodation-facilities/