Kampala City has been the portal of destination Uganda but plans are underway to exploit its potential to capacity.

This was revealed during the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) on November 30, 2021.

“This is possible by improving on existing products, developing new ones, providing quality service in the entire chain and selling it. The menu comprises of a wealth of history, culture, gastronomy and ancient architecture” said UTB CEO Lilly Ajarova. “Kampala is ready to reassert itself in that position.”

Street food makes Kampala vibrant to adventurous diners 

Adding that museums, theatres and faith tourism are just a starter/salad before or after the main course.   

“Before the advent of Covid-19 Kampala was the great lakes resort,” noted Ajarova. “It is the springboard before one starts on their safari to truck gorillas, see the Big Five or bird watching.”

Coffee lovers have a variety of places to have their fill.

KCCA executive director Dorothy Kisaka expressed great expectations in the joint venture of executing joint hotel inspection and quality assurance of attractions like Kabaka’s Lake, monuments, hygiene and security.

“Providing environment awareness among city dwellers and information about important sites will add the appeal of Kampala to an exodus of tourists from the region and beyond,” noted Kisaka. “There is a need to build capacity to handle the fast-changing tourism industry.”

A casual tour of Kampala City was a revelation of attractions embedded within a 30-minute drive from the Central Business District (CBD.) They include Uganda National Museum in Kitante and Semagulu Museum in Mutundwe.

“If it were not for the 2 years Covid-19 Lockdown the volume of visitors to Semagulu was shooting higher,” says the CEO John Sempebwa. “People want to know their roots before they forge a way forward.”

Sempebwa said entertainment was not an imported pass time as portrayed by colonialists.

“We had regattas, wrestling and the board game,” boasts Sempebwa. “It is time we enriched our children with our history as they are caught up in an information highway.”

Contrary to expectations, in spite of the concrete replacing what was the greenest city in Africa, Kampala still is sandwiching some trees and birds like the Marabou stork.

True to Ajarova’s claim of Kampala being the destination for merrymakers in the region events like the goat’s race, Diwali, Blankets and Wine, Oktoberfest and Seafood galas were crowd pullers.     

On the length menu of things to do, while in Kampala are: horse riding in Speke Resort Munyonyo, Ndere Center or National Theater, faith tourists can have fun at Namugongo Martyr’s Shire, Bahai Temple or Qadaffi Mosque on Old Kampala hill.

The number and quality of hotels has since gone up, successfully hosting CHOGM in 2017, shot up and improved on their appeal. Uganda Hotel Owners Association (UHOA) boasts having more room to appeal to either level of the person.

Other schools of thought have it that the kwanjula or okuhingira (traditional wedding ceremonies are potential attractions to cultural lovers.  Visual artist Nuwa Wamala Nyanzi sums it up saying a trip to Kampala minus a memento is considered incomplete.

"We have wooden masks, oil paintings, sculptures, footwear and jewellery," says Nyanzi. "Responsible tourists leave some money behind to improve the livelihoods of their hosts."