As Kenya pursues its target of five million international visitor arrivals by 2027, the Consulate General of the Republic of Uganda in Mombasa is using the Magical Kenya Travel Expo (MKTE) 2026 to make the case that some of the fastest gains lie in Kenya’s own neighbourhood — starting with Uganda.
Uganda is already Kenya’s second-largest source market. According to the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), arrivals from Uganda grew from 201,623 in 2024 to 234,556 in 2025, an increase of about 16%. Travel in the other direction is growing too: the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) reports that Kenyan visitors to Uganda rose from 466,902 to 519,041 over the same period. Combined, visitor arrivals between the two countries topped 750,000 in 2025.
Led by the Consul General, Amb. Herbert Kiguli, the Consulate is on 8th Oct. met tour operators, travel agents, airlines, hoteliers and international buyers at Uhuru Gardens National Monument and Museum, where MKTE was held from 6 to 8 October. The message to the trade is that Uganda and the Kenyan Coast work best as one connected circuit – a beach holiday in Mombasa or Diani paired with a gorilla trek, the source of the Nile or a safari in Uganda. Packaging the two together can win visitors for both countries.
“Kenya’s ambition of five million visitors is one Uganda shares, because our two destinations grow together. Uganda is already Kenya’s second-largest source market, and more Kenyans are choosing Uganda every year. Our task now is to remove what still slows travellers down, cost, access and paperwork, so that a visitor to the Coast can add Uganda to the same trip, and the other way round,” said Amb. Herbert Kiguli, Consul General of the Republic of Uganda in Mombasa.
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The Consulate’s presence at MKTE sets the stage for the 5th Uganda–Kenya Coast Tourism and Innovation Summit, to be held on 26–27 October 2026 at Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort, Mombasa, under the theme “Unlocking Tourism Opportunities: Resolving Policy Bottlenecks Through Technology, Youth and Seamless Mobility across East Africa.”
This year the annual conference has been elevated to a Summit that moves from awareness to policy action. Participation is by targeted invitation, with over 200 decision-makers drawn from tourism, technology, government and investment. The programme included:
- A policy session on Article 104 of the EAC Treaty (free movement of persons, labour and services), structured to produce a joint declaration;
- An Innovation Showcase in which youth-led technology ventures demonstrate live digital tourism prototypes before a panel drawn from UTB, KTB and private-sector investors; and
- B2B and deal-facilitation sessions linking tour operators, technology developers, investors and institutional buyers.
The 2026 edition also marks 10 years of the Consulate’s work in Mombasa. Since 2022 the Uganda–Kenya Coast tourism platform has built an active network of tour operators, travel agents, hoteliers and tourism bodies across both destinations, and its familiarisation (fam) trip programme has given more than 450 stakeholders first-hand knowledge of products on both sides of the border.
Kenyan tour operators, travel agents and investors attending MKTE were invited to visit the Consulate’s stand to learn about the Summit and the reciprocal Fam Trip to Uganda for Kenyan delegates (1–8 November 2026), and to register their interest.
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