Uganda's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, John Mulimba and his tourism counterpart, Martin Mugarra have led a delegation of over 200 participants for this year's Uganda-Kenya Coast Tourism Conference in Mombasa.
The team includes both private and public sector players.
The conference that runs from November 13 and 14 is organized by the Consulate General of Uganda in Mombasa, the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) as well as tourism stakeholders in Uganda and at the Kenyan Coast at the Diani Reef Beach Resort and Spa's Diani Reef Convention Centre.
Thereafter the Ugandan delegation shall immerse themselves in a variety of coastal excursions and experiences.
Between November, 22 and December, 22, Uganda will also host the Kenyan delegation to a series of familiarisation trips to various Ugandan destinations and experiences.
There will also be a Business to Business (B2B) conference which runs under the theme; "Consolidating networks, synergies and diversity to maximise the tourism potential between Uganda and Kenya coastal region".
Explaining the importance of the conference to both countries, John Mulimba said that Uganda and Kenya already enjoy mutual brisk business, including tourism and therefore this is an opportunity to 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. 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 increasing interest for Kenyans to visit Uganda is mainly due to various events that take place in Uganda such as Golf and Rugby tournaments, festivals, and music concerts among others. For Ugandans, the main reasons for visiting Kenya Coast are: to enjoy the beaches and the coastal scenery and features; attend meetings and also for education purposes. There is also a growing number of Ugandans who visit Kenya Coast to have their wedding parties or spend their honeymoon at some to of the coastal hotels," Mulimba noted.
"The overall objective of the conference is to consolidate networks, synergies and diversity to maximize the tourism potential between Uganda and Kenya coastal region," he added.
Uganda's Consul General in Mombasa, Amb. Paul Mukumbya said conference will also help 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 second Uganda- Kenya Coast Tourism Conference shall continue to further explore investment opportunities in the tourism sector in Uganda, provide a platform for business to business networking, learning and information sharing as well as equip the key tourism players from Uganda and the Kenya coastal region with first-hand experience of the key tourism attractions so that they are in better position to market these attractions as well as promote. The conference will also explore further ways in which to popularise the Entebbe - Mombasa route operated by the Uganda Airlines," Mukumbya said.
The State Minister for Tourism, Martin Mugarra emphasized the role of regional travel as a key driver of tourism numbers in East Africa.
"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 thrice to Mombasa. Extending regional travel to include foreign visitors 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."
The president of Uganda Tourism Associations (COUTA), Herbert Byaruhanga said the conference fits well within the industry's desire to grow both the volume and value of tourism to the region.
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"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 medium to long term increase both the number of visitors, the length of stay and expenditure," Byaruhanga said.
According to Stephen Asiimwe, the Chief Executive Officer of PSFU the conference has come at the right time for both countries as they recover from the Covid pandemic that battered them so badly.
"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 were male and 1,815,576 were female. This was however crushed to near-zero by the pandemic. Such joint collaborations in product development and destination marketing and selling are vital to the accelerated recovery of the sector," Asiimwe said.
