Ugandan tourism at a turning point: Lilly Ajarova seeks new investment momentum as the sector accelerates growth
In tourism terms, Uganda has for years already had what many countries try to build over decades: a recognizable natural identity, a strong sense of authenticity, and a combination of attractions that is difficult to replicate elsewhere. Mountain gorillas, the Nile, national parks, birdwatching, adventure tourism, cultural heritage, and a growing business segment give this East African country a broad foundation for international promotion. But the message that has been coming from the top of the sector in recent months is as clear as it is cautionary: potential in itself is not enough. If Uganda wants to move from the category of a promising destination into the ranks of the leading African tourism markets, it will need more capital, better infrastructure, stronger international visibility, and firmer coordination between the state and the private sector.
It is precisely at this point that Lilly Ajarova, one of the most recognizable figures in Ugandan tourism, bases her assessment. After serving as head of the Uganda Tourism Board, during 2025 she moved into the role of senior presidential advisor on tourism, and her public appearances and the messages that accompanied the end of her term retained the same fundamental emphasis: Uganda possesses great tourism capital, but without more decisive investment and a more aggressive market position it will not achieve its full economic impact. That view carries additional weight today because it comes at a moment when the sector has emerged from post-pandemic recovery and entered a phase in which the conversation is no longer only about a return, but about the next developmental leap.
The numbers confirm the recovery, but they also raise the question of the next phase of growth
Official data from Uganda’s Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities show that 2024 was a year of marked recovery. The country recorded 1,371,895 international visitors, which is growth of 7.7 percent compared with the previous year, while tourism revenues reached approximately 1.28 billion US dollars, with growth of 25.9 percent. The ministry also stated that Uganda returned to 89.2 percent of its pre-pandemic level of international arrivals, but at the same time improved the quality of spending: the average stay of foreign visitors was extended to 8.7 nights, and average daily spending reached 125 dollars. In other words, the country is not only recording greater traffic, but is also trying to build a market profile that brings greater value per guest.
That is an important difference because it shows that the debate about the future of Ugandan tourism is no longer limited to merely counting arrivals. At the center is the question of whether the country can maintain growth, increase spending, expand accommodation and transport capacities, and offer experiences that will set it apart in increasingly fierce African competition. Uganda competes not only with traditionally strong destinations such as Kenya and Tanzania, but also with countries that in recent years have invested heavily in congress tourism, air connections, luxury accommodation, and digital marketing. In that environment, Ajarova’s message about “new momentum” is not a political phrase, but a diagnosis of market reality.
The potential is great, but the obstacles are very concrete
Uganda has clear comparative advantages. For years, the country has positioned itself as a place of high-value natural experiences, from encounters with mountain gorillas to safaris, rafting on the Nile, hiking in the Rwenzori, and cultural itineraries that connect communities, heritage, and local gastronomy. In addition, domestic institutions and tourism promoters have been systematically building the “Explore Uganda, The Pearl of Africa” brand, which in recent years has become the country’s central communication platform toward foreign markets.
However, the problems discussed by both public institutions and the private sector are not at the level of slogans, but at the level of implementation. The new National Tourism Policy document from 2025 explicitly sets the goal of strengthening Uganda’s competitiveness, resilience, and international position, with the ambition that the country enter the ranks of the leading African tourism destinations. But the same document, as well as the reactions of the Uganda Tourism Association, clearly indicate that development is being held back on several fronts: administrative barriers to investment, tax issues, a lack of specialized skills, the need for better licensing and standardization of services, as well as persistent challenges related to infrastructure. When such problems are added together, the result is a picture of a sector that has a strong story for the market, but still does not have an equally strong system that would turn that story without interruption into revenue, employment, and new investment.
In that sense, Ajarova’s thesis that tourism cannot develop in isolation from the rest of the economy is especially important. Tourism depends on roads, air connections, energy, digital connectivity, security, spatial planning, and the quality of the workforce. If a visitor has greater difficulty moving between attractions, if an investor enters a project slowly, or if an international campaign does not rely on a strong enough budget, the country loses its advantage even when it has a top-class product. Uganda is trying to change that, but official plans show that the key question now is the speed of implementation.
Why investments are being talked about so much now
Calls for investment in Ugandan tourism are not new, but today they have a different background than a few years ago. After the period of recovery from the pandemic, the sector once again began generating stronger foreign-exchange revenues, and the state is describing it more openly than ever as one of the pillars of economic growth. The Ministry of Tourism states that in 2024 tourism contributed directly to GDP with about 6.06 trillion Ugandan shillings, supported about 803,000 jobs, and accounted for 16 percent of the country’s total exports. Such indicators give political and fiscal weight to the argument that tourism is no longer a secondary activity, but a development sector that affects employment, regional development, services, and the international perception of the country.
At the same time, the structure of investment itself shows where Uganda sees opportunity. Official sources in recent months have emphasized interest in premium accommodation, adventure and cultural products, better conference capacities, and investments linked to business and event tourism. In that segment, the MICE industry plays a significant role, meaning the market for meetings, incentive travel, conferences, and exhibitions. Uganda had already institutionally strengthened that direction a few years ago through the Uganda Convention Bureau, and in 2025 and 2026 it is additionally linking it to a new national MICE strategy and infrastructure works that enable the country to bid for larger gatherings. The message from the sector is that Uganda no longer wants to stop at events with a few hundred participants, but wants to enter the race for international gatherings with several thousand delegates.
Such a shift is important not only because of prestige. Congress and business tourism as a rule bring higher spending per guest, fill hotels outside the classic seasonal peaks, and create additional demand for transport, hospitality, event organization services, and local suppliers. When that is added to the fact that in 2027 Uganda will co-host the Africa Cup of Nations together with Kenya and Tanzania, it becomes clearer why official documents and promotional campaigns insist so much on capacities, standards, and international positioning. Major events in themselves do not guarantee long-term success, but they can accelerate investment and increase visibility if accompanied by smart preparation.
New policy and a new management phase
At the end of November 2025, Uganda officially presented the National Tourism Policy 2025, which Tourism Minister Tom Butime described as a decisive turning point for the future of the sector. The document does not start from the assumption that the market will solve development problems on its own, but explicitly calls for stronger linking of tourism with state planning, the investment framework, security, product development, digital innovation, and promotion. Special emphasis was placed on segments that the government believes can grow faster than average: MICE, cultural tourism, corridors linked to oil and gas, destination security, and the inclusion of young people and digital solutions.
The institutional change accompanying that phase is also important. After Ajarova, the position of chief executive officer of the Uganda Tourism Board was taken over in June 2025 by Juliana Kagwa, a manager with more than two decades of experience in marketing, sales, and branding in African markets. In doing so, Uganda placed at the head of its main promotional tourism institution a person whose professional profile is strongly tied to commercial growth, market positioning, and the development of recognizable brands. In political and operational terms, this can be read as a continuation of the same priority also advocated by Ajarova: the tourism product must be better packaged, better placed, and better supported by investment logic.
This is especially important for a country that is still simultaneously building several levels of tourism identity. Uganda wants to remain a strong destination for nature-based and sustainable tourism, but at the same time it is also developing business, event, cultural, and infrastructure tourism. Official promotional materials from 2026 already speak of new international roadshow appearances in Europe, partnerships with British business delegations, expanding presence at trade fairs, and the promotion of incentive travel and congress offerings in Abu Dhabi, India, and other markets. In other words, Uganda is testing a model in which the classic safari and natural heritage are complemented by an investment and business narrative.
What the private sector wants from the state
However encouraging the official figures may be, they do not in themselves remove the tension between ambition and execution. The private sector in Uganda has for some time been saying that for a stronger breakthrough it needs not only promotion, but also a more stable operating environment. Reactions from the tourism association to the new policy reveal several recurring demands: fewer administrative bottlenecks, a clearer tax framework, better interdepartmental coordination, more investment in skills development, and stronger involvement of entrepreneurs in the implementation of the strategy. That is an important signal because it shows that the investment story depends not only on how attractive the destination is on a poster or in a video campaign, but also on how predictable it is on the ground.
In the tourism industry, it is precisely that difference that often decides success. Investors do not look only at natural resources, but also at the duration of procedures, the quality of partners, regulation, and the possibility of return on investment. Tour operators do not assess only the beauty of the landscape, but also the reliability of logistics. Travelers do not compare only prices, but also the overall ease of travel, from arriving in the country to the quality of service at the destination. That is why Ajarova’s message about coordinated action between the state and the private sector is also a warning that tourism growth must not be left to improvisation. Uganda is not competing in an empty space, but on a continent where more and more countries are building professional and aggressively promoted tourism systems.
Global competition and Uganda’s African moment
The broader international context favors Uganda, but only partly. UN Tourism states that global international tourism during 2024 reached an almost full pre-pandemic recovery, and in 2025 it continued to grow. Africa is among the regions that returned strongly to the market in that process. This means that Uganda is operating at a time when interest in international travel is growing, but also when competitors are more actively than before chasing the same guests, the same airlines, the same investors, and the same business events. In such an environment, it is no longer enough to be a “hidden gem.” For the country to increase its market share, it must be visible, easily accessible, and clearly profiled.
Uganda’s official ambitions confirm this as well. The national policy speaks openly about entering the ranks of the leading African destinations, while promotional activities for 2026 show that Kampala and UTB want to present themselves more aggressively to European, Asian, and regional markets. The upcoming Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo 2026, scheduled from May 21 to 23 at Speke Resort Munyonyo, is conceived precisely as a platform where international buyers, investors, media, and domestic stakeholders will come together. The very way in which the event was announced reveals the basic logic of the new phase: more business networking, more targeted promotion, and more conversion of tourism potential into concrete contracts, investments, and market presence.
Uganda, therefore, is no longer talking only about the beauty of its landscapes. It is talking about return on investment, international standards, economic transformation, employment, and strengthening its export position. This is a shift that many destinations have to go through when they move from an early promotional phase into a more serious development cycle. That is precisely why Ajarova’s message about renewed momentum acts as a summary of the entire moment in which the sector finds itself: the country has proved that it can recover, but now it must prove that it can grow systematically.
Ugandan tourism therefore today stands between two pictures. On the one hand, there are impressive natural and cultural advantages, growing revenues, longer stays by foreign guests, new international appearances, and political willingness to treat tourism as a strategic sector. On the other hand, old challenges remain that can no longer be hidden behind rhetoric about potential: the need for faster infrastructure development, easier investment, better services, stronger global marketing, and genuine linking of public and private interests. If Uganda succeeds in turning that second list of weaknesses into an implementation plan, Ajarova’s message about a turning point could prove correct in the most positive sense: not as a warning that an opportunity may be missed, but as an announcement that the country is entering a period in which it will be spoken of less and less as an undiscovered pearl and more and more as a serious tourism power in East Africa.
Sources:- Uganda’s Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities – official announcement on tourism results for 2024, including arrivals, revenues, length of stay, and economic contribution (link)
- Uganda’s Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities – presentation of the National Tourism Policy 2025 and official goals of competitiveness, investment, and sector growth (link)
- Uganda Tourism Board – official announcement on Juliana Kagwa assuming office as head of UTB on June 16, 2025 (link)
- Uganda Tourism Board – official data on the development of the MICE segment, new capacities, and the goals of the strategy for business and congress tourism (link)
- Uganda Tourism Board – official announcement of POATE 2026 as a key B2B platform for investors, international buyers, and the tourism industry (link)
- Uganda Tourism Board – official portal with information that Uganda will co-host AFCON 2027 with Kenya and Tanzania (link)
- UN Tourism – international overview of the recovery and growth of global tourism during 2025 for the broader global market context (link)
- Monitor – report on the appointment of Lilly Ajarova to the position of senior presidential advisor on tourism, which explains her current institutional position (link)
Find accommodation nearby
Creation time: 2 hours ago