Uganda’s Minister of State for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Hon. Susan Nakawuki Nsambu, used the 5th Uganda–Kenya Coast Tourism and Innovation Summit to set out Uganda’s bargain with the Kenyan coast: package the region’s strengths together and make it easier for every East African to enjoy them. The Summit was held on 26th and 27th October at Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort, convened by the Consulate of Uganda in Mombasa.
Speaking on the opening day, the Minister said the value of the partnership lies not simply in the meetings held but in “the relationships we build, the businesses we connect and the opportunities we unlock.” She described the two countries as complementary: Uganda’s wildlife, primates, lakes and mountains alongside Kenya’s beaches and cultural heritage, a pairing the Consulate promotes as “Beach to Bush, Bush to Beach.” Young people and new technology, she said, will help package these experiences together and easier movement will put them within reach of every East African.
The Numbers Behind the Bargain
The partnership is already producing results. Kenyan visitors to Uganda rose from 466,902 in 2024 to 519,041 in 2025, while Ugandan arrivals in Kenya grew from 201,623 to 234,556, making Uganda Kenya’s second-largest source market. More than 450 tourism stakeholders have joined cross-border familiarisation trips since the partnership began in 2022 and more than 70 Ugandan operators, travel agents, hoteliers and Uganda Tourism Board officials toured the Kenyan coast in the days before the Summit.
From Meetings to Markets
The Minister joined a ministerial panel on Article 104 of the EAC Treaty, moderated by the Ministry’s Commissioner for Tourism Development, Vivian Lyazi, alongside Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for EAC, ASALs and Regional Development, Hon. Beatrice Askul Moe and the CEO of the Private Sector Foundation Uganda. She also asked organisers of familiarisation trips to include officials from her Ministry, so that policy and practice stay aligned.
On the opening day, tourism and business bodies from both countries signed four memoranda of understanding: between the travel agents’ associations (KATA and TUGATA), the tour operators’ associations (KATO and AUTO), the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Private Sector Foundation Uganda, and the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Banana Industrial Research and Development Centre. The Summit also featured live presentations by young innovators from both countries and business-to-business sessions linking operators, hoteliers, technology developers and investors.
Kenyan delegates now travel to Uganda for a familiarisation trip from 1st to 8th November, a chance to see for themselves the products the Minister described in Mombasa. The Ministry said it will continue to take Uganda’s tourism offer to regional platforms and to follow up the commitments made at the Summit, which will be reviewed at the 2027 edition.
