Kampala prepares to host continental hospitality summit

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Uganda is stepping up efforts to attract international hotel brands and tourism investors to develop new tourism products and strengthen the country's position as a leading destination in Africa.

The initiative brings together the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) and the Uganda Hotel Owners Association (UHOA) in a joint campaign to attract investment into the tourism and hospitality sector.

The partnership was announced at UTB offices in Lugogo, Kampala, on May 15, 2026, alongside plans to host the Future Hospitality Summit (FHS) Africa in Kampala in February 2027. The summit is expected to bring together global investors, hotel operators, developers and hospitality brands to explore opportunities in Uganda's tourism industry.

(L-R): Mugula, Bannister, Kagwa, Byamugisha, during the announcement of plans to host the Future Hospitality Summit (FHS) Africa in Kampala at the Uganda Tourism Board offices in Kampala. (Photo by John Odyek)

Roy Bannister, Head of Strategic Partnerships: Africa, The Bench, said the summit is dedicated to promoting investment in the hospitality sector across the continent. “FHS Africa is impactful in that it's very narrowly focused on driving investment into the hospitality industry in Uganda,” Bannister said.

Juliana Kagwa, the Chief Executive Officer of UTB, said Uganda's tourism investment journey is still relatively young, presenting room for growth in accommodation, tourism products and visitor experiences.

“Uganda started doing some serious tourism investment around 1996, so it's still early days for us, to be honest. And we see an opportunity not just to increase arrivals, but to increase the investment, FDI, around the tourism value chain. We need accommodation.  We need products. We need experiences to be developed and enhanced. We see ourselves competing with the best destinations in the world.”

Kagwa said Uganda is studying countries that have successfully transformed tourism into a major economic sector through sustained investment. “We are looking at Thailand as a benchmark. We are looking at Peru and Ecuador. And all these destinations started with investment. Arrivals, yes, but investment in the hospitality sector,” Kagwa said.

She described the upcoming summit as an ideal platform for connecting Uganda with global hospitality investors. “I can't think of a better summit platform conversation to host than one around investment in hospitality. I can't think of a better location than Uganda,” she explained.

Tourism at the Centre of Development Plans

Kagwa noted that the government has identified tourism as one of the priority drivers of economic transformation under the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV). “The government itself is investing in the tourism sector. In Uganda’s Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV), there are the ATMs, an acronym for four priority sectors and economic growth pillars: Agro-Industrialisation, Tourism Development, Mineral-based Development (including Oil & Gas), and Science, Technology and Innovation.

“Tourism is pegged to grow two and a half times ahead of any other sector. So that is how much belief, conviction and investment the government of Uganda is already putting behind the hospitality sector,” she noted.

Kagwa said hosting FHS Africa would expose Uganda to international investors and hospitality brands that could contribute to the country's tourism growth.

“The Future Hospitality Summit will open Uganda up to foreign investment as well. This summit has been hosted in some of the most popular destinations in Africa. So Cape Town has hosted. Nairobi obviously has hosted,” she said.

She added that Uganda hopes to see major changes in Kampala's hospitality landscape in the coming years. “So we want Kampala City, the skyline of Kampala City, to evolve in the next three to five years. International chains coming in, hotel chains coming in, international product developers coming in. And then we see ourselves competing with the Cairos of this world, Cape Town, Nairobi, New York, Paris.”

Uganda's growth agenda

Rita N. Mugula, Deputy Director for Investment Promotion at the Uganda Investment Authority, said tourism remains one of the sectors expected to contribute strongly to Uganda's economic growth ambitions.

“Tourism is one of the drivers for Uganda’s economy, and we are looking at the 10-fold growth strategy. We are looking at tourism to be the driver that is going to really contribute hugely amongst the ATMs to attract the foreign direct investment and grow our GDP,” Mugula said.

According to Mugula, Uganda's investment strategy extends beyond national borders by positioning the country as a gateway to the wider East African tourism market. “So the key goal that we are looking at achieving at UIA, of course, is a rapidly growing tourism sector. We are looking at the market potential. We are not only looking at Uganda, but the East African region, because we can centre ourselves,” Mugula explained.

“We are promoting Uganda’s tourism globally and regionally because we have a single-entry visa. So, how does Uganda position itself to tap into the tourists that are also inward-looking within the region? And then we have a young workforce”.

“When we look at investment, at the back of our mind, we are looking at the employment we are creating, the skills that we are bringing into the country,” Mugula said.

Partnerships

Mugula said attracting global hotel brands should go hand in hand with creating opportunities for Ugandan businesses and workers. “How are we amplifying the tourism and hospitality sector to really scale up the literacy rates we have of our population? So this is a huge potential, attracting the brands and infrastructure in the hotel industry that will eventually employ the Ugandans that we have”.

“Beyond the conference itself, what we are looking at is strategic local partnerships. A lot of our locals are really into the tourism sector,” Mugula said. She noted that many Ugandans already own hotels and operate tourism businesses, making partnerships and franchising arrangements particularly important.

“We have a lot of tour operators, a lot of hotels, but by the locals. So, attracting this franchising, how do we look at franchising in all this? How do we look at the partnerships that we are going to draw from this and attract the high-end hotels into the country?

Tourism Hub

Jean Byamugisha, Executive Director of the Uganda Hotel Owners Association, said Uganda's central location on the continent places it in a strong position to become a leading tourism destination.

“Uganda is in the middle of Africa. We should be the centre of tourism in Africa.” She called for greater investment in hotel development, particularly in destinations that remain largely untapped.

“We want to see more hotels. We have beautiful, untapped areas. In Uganda, Kidepo is still fresh. We want to see more investors coming in there,” Byamugisha said.

She appealed to the media to support efforts to market Uganda internationally and attract investors. “The press is very important to us because you are our mouthpiece. You are our microphone. Without you, we cannot be able to do anything”.

“So we want you to support us in marketing our country, in talking well about our country, because the deals that we are going to be talking about are bigger than some of the budgets of some of our sectors in the country. So let us really put up a good show,” Byamugisha said.