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 TOURISM CONFERENCE 

The second edition of the Uganda-Kenya Coast Tourism Conference has kicked off in Kenya's port city of Mombasa.

A 200-strong Ugandan delegation of private and public sector players is attending the two-day meeting, which is specifically happening at Diani Reef Beach Resort & Spa’s Diani Reef Convention Centre.

State ministers John Mulimba (foreign affairs) and Martin Bahinduka Mugarra (tourism) are leading the group.

The conference is organized by the Consulate General of Uganda in Mombasa, with the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda (PSFU) taking the lead for the private sector while the tourism ministry, Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) and the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) taking the lead for the Uganda government.

In Mombasa, the organization and hosting is being spearheaded by the county Government of Kwale and destination Diani.

After the conference ends on Tuesday, the Ugandan delegation will immerse themselves in a variety of coastal excursions and experiences. 

From November 22 until December 1, Uganda will also host the Kenyan delegation to a series of familiarization trips to selected Kenyan tour operators to various Ugandan destinations and experiences.

The Business to Business (B2B) Conference is running under the theme: 'Consolidating networks, synergies and diversity to maximize the tourism potential between Uganda and Kenya coastal region.

It looks to offer opportunities for tourism players in both countries to meet and explore joint business opportunities.

Mutual growth opportunities 

Explaining the strategic importance of the conference to both Uganda and Kenya, Minister Mulimba said the two neighbours already enjoy mutual brisk business, including tourism, and therefore this conference will both consolidate and accelerate the volume and value of this business relationship.

“Uganda is Kenya's second biggest source market for tourists. In 2022, 150,900 Ugandans visited Kenya. Out of these, 22,200 visited the Kenyan coast, up from 10,100 in 2021," he said.

"Likewise, Kenya is Uganda's leading source market for tourists. In 2022, 376,294 Kenyans visited Uganda, an increase of over 40,000 tourists from the 326,387 Kenyans tourists who visited Uganda in 2021."

The minister said events such as golf and rugby tournaments, festivals and music concerts draw Kenyans to Uganda.

Ugandans travel to Kenya to enjoy the beaches and the coastal scenery and features, for study as well as meetings. 

"There is also a growing number of Ugandans who visit Kenya's coast to have their wedding parties or spend their honeymoon at some of the coastal hotels," said Mulimba.

“The overall objective of the conference is to consolidate networks, synergies and diversity to maximize the tourism potential between Uganda and Kenya coastal region."

Uganda’s Consul General in Mombasa, Amb. Paul Mukumbya, said the conference is also looking to create more awareness about the two destinations and the tourism products they offer as well as enhance the synergies and complementarity between key tourism players from Uganda and the Kenya coastal region.

“Building on the achievements of last year’s conference, the 2nd Uganda-Kenya Coast Tourism Conference shall continue to further explore investment opportunities in the tourism sector in Uganda, provide a platform for B2B networking, learning and information sharing as well as equip the key tourism players from Uganda and the Kenya coastal region with firsthand experience of the key tourism attractions so that they are in a better position to market these attractions as well as promote," said Mukumbya.

He added that the conference will also explore further ways in which to popularise the Entebbe - Mombasa route operated by the Uganda Airlines.

On his part, tourism state minister Bahinduka said: “Regional travel has always been a key driver of tourism in East Africa but has largely been reliant on East African residents and citizens. Given the proximity to each other and the increasingly better connectivity between our countries, Uganda Airlines now flies twice daily to Nairobi, and thrice on Fridays, as well as thrice to Mombasa."

Kenya Airways, Kenya’s national carrier, flies to Uganda, on average, five times daily.

"Therefore, extending this existing complementarity, to tap into each other’s existing and potential opportunities, will certainly add value to both our countries, as well as create better and unforgettable experiences for our visitors, hence increasing their likelihood of returning as well as recommending our two destinations," said Bahinduka.

UTB deputy CEO Bradford Ochieng said the conference and its key theme, mirrors Destination Uganda’s four-pronged segmented marketing strategy that seeks to rebalance and segment Uganda’s tourism portfolio into 4 key segments, namely: existing overseas markets, emerging overseas markets, regional/African markets and the domesticmarket.

“Africa is one of the fastest-growing tourism markets, together with the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, with both inbound and outbound traffic growing steadily," said Ochieng.

"Intra-Africa travel is also recovering strongly, especially because of the existing strong business ties with neighbouring countries such as we have with Kenya. There are also benefits of African integration such as the EAC Tourist Visa and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) that will open up more African borders and skies. 

"This conference and anticipated closer ties between the two destinations, is in all senses good for both our destinations."

Herbert Byaruhanga is the president of the Confederation of Uganda Tourism Associations (COUTA).

He said this conference fits well within the industry’s desire to grow both the volume and value of tourism to the region.

“Both our destinations ⏤ the Kenyan Coast and Uganda ⏤ have something unique to offer to visitors. Consolidating this complementarity will not only enhance the value proposition and visitor experiences, but will in the medium to long increase both the number of visitors, the length of stay and expenditure,” said Byaruhanga.

Stephen Asiimwe, the CEO of PSFU, said: "The tourism industry is one of Uganda’s most strategic sectors, creating livelihoods for about 998,876 establishments - both formal and informal and prior to COVID-19, created a total number of 2,572,416 direct and indirect jobs, of whom 759,841 (29.5 per cent) were male and 1,815,576 (70.5 per cent) were female.

"This was, however, crushed to near-zero by the pandemic. Such collaborations in product development and destination marketing/selling are vital to the accelerated recovery of the sector,” he said.