Kenya, Oct 8 – Uganda is seeking to deepen tourism ties with Kenya as both countries look to increase cross-border travel and attract more international visitors to the region
Uganda is Kenya’s second-largestng country rising by 16 percent from 201,623 in 2024 to 234,556 in 2025, according to the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB)
Kenyan visitors to Uganda also increased from 466,902 to 519,041 over the same period, according to the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB). Combined, more than 750,000 visitors travelled between the two countries in 2025.
The figures have prompted the Ugandan Consulate in Mombasa to push for more joint tourism packages linking destinations in the two countries.
Speaking during the Magical Kenya Travel Expo (MKTE) in Nairobi, Uganda’s Consul General in Mombasa, Herbert Kiguli, said reducing the cost and other barriers to cross-border travel could help increase tourist numbers in both countries.
“Kenya’s ambition of 5 million visitors is one Uganda shares, because our two destinations grow together. Uganda is already Kenya’s second-largestguli said
“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,” he added.
Uganda is promoting combined itineraries that could link Kenya’s coastal destinations such as Mombasa and Diani with attractions in Uganda, including gorilla trekking, the
The discussions at MKTE, which runs from October 6 to 8 at Uhuru Gardens National Monument and Museum, will also feed into the fifth Uganda-Kenya Coast Tourism and Innovation Summit scheduled for October 26 and 27 in Mombasa.
The summit will bring together more than 200 stakeholders from the tourism, technology, government and investment sectors to discuss barriers to cross-border travel and ways of improving tourism cooperation.
One of the sessions will focus on Article 104 of the East African Community Treaty, which provides for the free movement of persons, labour and services among member states.
The summit will also feature technology demonstrations by youth-led ventures and business-to-business meetings involving tour operators, technology firms, investors and institutional buyers.
The Uganda-Kenya Coast tourism platform was established to strengthen cooperation between tourism players in the two countries. Since 2022, its familiarisation trips have brought more than 450 tourism stakeholders to destinations on both sides of the border.
The Consulate is also inviting Kenyan tourism operators and investors to participate in a familiarisation trip to Uganda scheduled for November 1 to 8, 2026.
