Gorilla trekking is Uganda’s highest-value tourism product. A single gorilla trekking permit costs USD 700 — more than the entry fee to most national parks in Africa. Multiply that by the thousands of permits issued per year, add the spending on accommodation, food, transport, guiding, portering, crafts, and community services that each visitor generates, and the economic impact on western Uganda’s districts becomes substantial. In 2027, economists working with the Uganda Tourism Board estimate that gorilla tourism — broadly defined to include all economic activity attributable to gorilla trekking in Bwindi and Mgahinga — supports approximately 4,000 jobs across the districts of Kanungu, Kabale, Kisoro, and Rukungiri. This post examines what those jobs look like, how they are distributed, and what they mean for the economic development of a region that has historically been among Uganda’s most remote and least economically connected.
Direct Employment: Rangers, Guides, and Lodge Staff
The most visible gorilla tourism employment is direct: the Uganda Wildlife Authority employs approximately 180 rangers, trackers, and support staff specifically for gorilla conservation and tourism in Bwindi and Mgahinga. Gorilla trekking operators — there are roughly 25 licensed operators with significant operations in the region — employ approximately 300 guides, drivers, and office staff. The 15 to 20 lodges and camps catering primarily to gorilla trekking clients in the Bwindi area employ between 400 and 600 staff in hospitality, maintenance, and management roles. These direct employment figures total approximately 1,000 jobs that exist specifically because of gorilla trekking.
Porter Employment: The Informal but Essential Layer
Porter employment in Bwindi is not formal — porters are registered with UWA but are self-employed, working per trek rather than on salary. The UWA porter register in the Bwindi area includes approximately 400 registered porters, of whom perhaps 250 work actively in any given peak season. Porter income varies significantly by season and by how often individual porters are requested by returning clients. The aggregate porter income across the Bwindi area in a typical year is estimated at several hundred thousand USD — a significant contribution to the income of the communities around the park.
Indirect Employment: The Supply Chain
Behind every lodge meal served to a gorilla trekker is a farmer who grew the food, a trader who transported it to the lodge, and a market vendor who sold it along the way. The food supply chains serving Bwindi area lodges reach into communities 50 to 100 kilometres from the park in some categories. Local specialities — pineapples, plantains, sweet potatoes, fresh fish from Lake Mutanda — create purchasing relationships that generate income for farming families who may never interact directly with a tourist.
Transport is another significant indirect employment category. The private vehicle fleets, boda-boda networks, and long-distance bus services that move gorilla trekking tourists from Kampala to Bwindi and around the western region are substantially dependent on gorilla tourism volumes. The improved road infrastructure in the region — several key roads have been upgraded specifically to support tourism access — has also enabled broader agricultural commercialisation that benefits farming communities regardless of their tourism connections.
Craft and Cultural Economy
Craft sales to gorilla trekking tourists represent a modest but meaningful income stream for community craft cooperatives across the western Uganda region. The craft cooperative in Buhoma — with over 80 members, predominantly women — generates annual revenue of approximately USD 40,000 to 60,000 from sales of woven baskets, wooden carvings, bark cloth items, and jewellery to tourists. Several cooperatives in Kabale and Kisoro produce crafts that reach tourist markets through lodges and tour operators, including us, who maintain purchasing relationships with community producers.
The Multiplier Effect
The 4,000 jobs directly or indirectly supported by gorilla tourism generate a further multiplier effect as employment income is spent within local communities on food, housing, education, and services. A ranger who earns a stable salary spends that salary locally. A lodge cook who earns regular wages supports local food vendors, school fee collectors, and health clinic users. These secondary spending effects are hard to measure precisely but are estimated to approximately double the direct economic impact of tourism employment on the wider regional economy.
For a region that had little economic activity beyond subsistence farming 30 years ago, the employment and income generated by gorilla tourism has been transformative. When you book a gorilla trek for 2027, you are participating in an economy that extends far beyond your encounter with the gorillas themselves.
