Bunyonyi and Mgahinga operators say the stalled road is already a tourism tax
Lodge owners and guides say visitors still come, but the last miles are slower, dustier and harder to sell as a circuit.
Tourism desks around Lake Bunyonyi and the Mgahinga trailheads say the stalled Kabale–Kisoro upgrade is already costing them. The lake and the gorillas are still the draw. The road in between is the complaint. Operators told Joy FM that Ugandan weekend travellers are still booking, but overseas agents ask more questions about transfer times. A circuit that should feel like one destination — Kabale, Bunyonyi, Kisoro, Mgahinga — still feels like three separate rough journeys. Until works restart in earnest, the region is selling world-class views at the end of a contractor dispute. That is a marketing problem as much as an engineering one. _Joy FM Newsroom, 8 August 2026._