Over 50 Ugandan tourism players arrive in Mombasa ahead of regional summit

More than 50 Ugandan tourism industry players have arrived at the Kenyan Coast for a familiarisation tour aimed at boosting cross-border travel and increasing the number of Ugandan visitors to Kenya.

The delegation, comprising tour operators, travel agents, hoteliers and travel influencers, arrived in Mombasa on Wednesday ahead of the fifth Uganda–Kenya Coast Tourism and Innovation Summit scheduled for October 26–27 at Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort and Spa.

The visit comes as Kenya seeks to increase arrivals from Uganda to 300,000 in 2026, building on the 234,556 visitors recorded in 2025, up from 201,623 the previous year.

According to the Kenya Tourism Board, Uganda was Kenya’s second-largest source market in 2025, underlining the importance of regional travel to the country’s tourism sector.

During the tour, the delegates will visit tourism attractions across Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale and Taita Taveta counties, including beaches, marine parks, heritage sites, hotels and resorts. The organisers say the visits are intended to equip Ugandan travel businesses with first-hand knowledge of Kenyan coastal destinations so they can incorporate them into their holiday packages.

Part of the delegation will also participate in the Uganda–Kenya Coast Open golf tournament at Vipingo Ridge on October 24 before attending the summit.

Ugandan Consul General in Mombasa Herbert Kiguli said direct engagement between tourism businesses in the two countries would help translate regional cooperation into increased travel and business opportunities.

"Regional integration becomes real when a Ugandan tour operator can stand on a Kenyan beach, meet the hotelier, and go home ready to sell. This delegation will return as ambassadors for the Kenya Coast, and as our two destinations are marketed together, both will grow," Kiguli said.

Karibu Adventure Safaris Director Kisuule Sulaiman said the tour would help Ugandan operators respond to growing interest in combined holidays featuring attractions in both countries.

"Our clients increasingly ask for combined trips: gorilla trekking in Uganda, then a week on the Kenyan Coast. Seeing these products ourselves, and meeting the people behind them, means we can sell the Coast with real knowledge and build lasting partnerships with Kenyan operators," Sulaiman said.

The tourism traffic between the two countries is growing in both directions. The Uganda Tourism Board recorded 519,041 Kenyan visitors to Uganda in 2025, compared with 466,902 in 2024, an increase of about 11 per cent.

Combined, more than 750,000 visitors travelled between Kenya and Uganda last year, as both countries reported growth in tourism earnings.

Kenya’s tourism earnings reached Ksh.501.3 billion in 2025, according to the Tourism Research Institute, while Uganda recorded tourism receipts of UGX5.83 trillion, equivalent to approximately USD1.62 billion, according to its Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities.

The upcoming summit is expected to strengthen cooperation between tourism associations in the two countries, building on a tourism memorandum of understanding signed by their governments on July 30, 2025.

Organisers say the annual initiative, which began in 2022, has already exposed more than 450 tourism stakeholders to products across the two destinations through familiarisation trips.

A reciprocal visit for Kenyan tourism stakeholders is scheduled for November 1–8, 2026, and will include gorilla and chimpanzee tracking, visits to the source of the Nile, adventure activities in Jinja, cultural attractions and game parks in Uganda.

The initiative seeks to position Kenya’s coastal tourism products and Uganda’s wildlife and adventure experiences as complementary offerings, encouraging travellers to combine the two destinations in a single itinerary.