Kenya and Uganda are being urged to deepen their longstanding economic relationship by expanding tourism exchanges and developing travel products that encourage travellers from both countries to explore more of East Africa.
The call was made during the media launch of the 5th Uganda–Kenya Coast Tourism and Innovation Summit 2026 in Kampala, where industry stakeholders challenged travel agents and tourism businesses to move beyond selling individual destinations and instead develop complementary products across the two markets.
“Uganda has products that Kenya can sell. Kenya has products that Uganda can sell. Together, we can sell East Africa,” was the message at the launch, capturing the growing push for stronger cross-border tourism partnerships.
The summit, which was unveiled on August 25 at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala, will bring together tourism and travel trade stakeholders at Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort in Mombasa on October 26–27.
Representing the Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA), Coast Liaison Patrick Maina Kamanga said the opportunity for Kenyan travel agents was not simply to sell the Kenyan Coast as a beach destination, but to reposition Mombasa as a broader leisure destination for the Ugandan market.
He called for increased promotion of Mombasa as a family holiday destination, highlighting the Coast’s combination of beaches, wildlife, adventure, history and heritage.
The strategy comes against the backdrop of an already significant tourism relationship between the two countries. Kenya received a record 2.4 million international visitors in 2024, with Uganda accounting for 9.4 per cent of arrivals, making it Kenya’s second-largest source market after the United States.
This translates to roughly 226,000 Ugandan visitors to Kenya in 2024, underlining the size of the market that could be further developed through targeted travel products, improved connectivity and stronger engagement between travel agents in the two countries.
The opportunity extends beyond tourism. Uganda is Kenya’s largest export market, accounting for 11.3 per cent of Kenya’s total exports in 2024. Kenya’s exports to Uganda were valued at about KSh125 billion during the year, compared with imports of KSh36 billion.
The figures highlight the depth of the commercial relationship between the two countries and provide a wider economic context for efforts to increase people-to-people travel.
In July 2025, Presidents William Ruto and Yoweri Museveni witnessed the signing of eight bilateral agreements covering areas including tourism, transport, agriculture, fisheries, investment and standards. The agreements brought the two countries’ trade and cooperation instruments to 25 and were aimed at strengthening economic integration and people-to-people ties.
The two governments have also moved to address barriers to cross-border commerce. In August 2025, Kenya and Uganda agreed to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers affecting trade and directed that products originating from either country be treated as transfers rather than imports. The measures also targeted congestion at the Malaba and Busia border points to facilitate the movement of goods, services and people.
For the travel industry, smoother movement across the border creates an opportunity to connect business travel with leisure, family holidays and regional tourism.
KATA says travel agents have a central role to play in converting this potential into actual travel by developing joint packages, building stronger business-to-business relationships and helping consumers discover destinations on both sides of the border.
For Ugandan travellers, the Kenyan Coast offers an opportunity to extend trips beyond the traditional beach holiday. Family-oriented experiences, marine activities, wildlife excursions, cultural and historical sites, food and adventure can be combined into packages that give travellers more reasons to stay longer and spend more.
For Kenyan travellers, Uganda presents a complementary destination with its own tourism, business and cultural attractions, creating opportunities for two-way travel rather than a one-directional tourism market.
This approach also supports the wider East African Community objective of creating a more integrated regional market in which the movement of people, goods and services supports shared economic growth.
The summit therefore seeks to position the Kenya–Uganda tourism relationship as part of a larger regional proposition: one in which destinations are not marketed in isolation, but combined to create more compelling travel experiences.
As the two countries strengthen cooperation in trade, transport and investment, the tourism sector has an opportunity to build on those ties and turn existing commercial connections into increased visitor flows.
For travel agents, the proposition is straightforward: Uganda does not have to compete with Kenya for the same traveller, and Kenya does not have to compete with Uganda. By packaging their complementary products and selling them together, the two markets can create a stronger East African tourism proposition.
The 5th Uganda–Kenya Coast Tourism and Innovation Summit will seek to advance that conversation, bringing together tourism businesses, travel agents and other stakeholders to explore how stronger B2B partnerships, joint products and improved connectivity can translate the existing Kenya–Uganda relationship into more business for both markets.
