Uganda seeks bigger share of Kenya’s 5 million tourist target

Uganda is seeking to deepen cross-border tourism with Kenya as Nairobi works towards its target of attracting five million international visitors by 2027.

The Ugandan Consulate in Mombasa is using the ongoing Magical Kenya Travel Expo (MKTE) to engage Kenyan tourism operators, travel agents, airlines, hoteliers and international buyers on ways of packaging the two countries as a single travel circuit.

Uganda is currently Kenya’s second-largest source market, with arrivals from the neighbouring country rising from 201,623 in 2024 to 234,556 in 2025, according to the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB).

At the same time, the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) recorded an increase in Kenyan visitors from 466,902 to 519,041 during the same period.

The two-way traffic between Kenya and Uganda therefore exceeded 750,000 visitors in 2025, providing a potential market for joint tourism products.

Ugandan Consul General to Mombasa Herbert Kiguli said the focus should now be on addressing barriers that make cross-border travel more difficult while encouraging visitors to combine attractions in both countries.

“Kenya’s ambition of 5 million visitors is one Uganda shares, because our two destinations grow together. Uganda is already Kenya’s second-largest source market, and more Kenyans are choosing Uganda every year. Our task now is to remove what still slows travellers down: cost, access and paperwork — so that a visitor to the Coast can add Uganda to the same trip, and the other way round,” said Kiguli.

The initiative will also be discussed at the fifth Uganda-Kenya Coast Tourism and Innovation Summit scheduled for October 26 and 27 in Mombasa.

The summit will bring together more than 200 stakeholders from the tourism, technology, government and investment sectors to discuss cross-border tourism and policy barriers.

A key session will focus on Article 104 of the East African Community Treaty, which deals with the free movement of persons, labour and services, with organisers seeking to develop a joint declaration.

The meeting will also feature an innovation showcase where youth-led technology ventures will demonstrate digital tourism products, alongside business-to-business sessions targeting tour operators, technology developers, investors and institutional buyers.

The initiative follows several years of collaboration between tourism stakeholders in Uganda and Kenya, including familiarisation trips that have exposed more than 450 stakeholders to tourism products in the two destinations.

Kenyan tourism operators and investors attending MKTE have also been invited to participate in a familiarisation trip to Uganda scheduled for November 1 to 8, 2026.

The 2026 summit will coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Uganda Consulate’s operations in Mombasa.