With World Tourism Day set for September 27, representatives from the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) and Asante Aviation Limited outlined strategies to improve air access and stimulate domestic tourism, citing persistent transport challenges as a key obstacle.
Juliana Kagwa, chief executive officer of the Uganda Tourism Board, called on locals to lead the sector’s expansion at a recent gathering. “There is no tourism destination on earth where the domestic tourists didn’t start the momentum,” Kagwa said, referencing countries like Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Kenya. “No one tours Kenya like the Kenyans. So it must start with the Kenyans. We don’t have a choice.”
The week’s events included World Gorilla Day on September 24 and an earlier World Rhino Day, featuring rhino naming at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, which has grown from six rhinos in 2009 to 48, with 17 juveniles. National parks opened to Ugandans, East Africans and foreign residents from September 25 to 27 under reduced fees. “The parks are open, no excuse. We must go,” Kagwa said.
Kagwa linked greater domestic involvement to cost reductions through economies of scale. “The more people travel, the more people frequent national parks, the lower the costs will go,” she said.
“The more people start to fly or use the aviation facilities, the more investors we get or attract to bring more aircrafts and open up the aerodomes, then the costs will go down.”
Ronald Kasozi Lubega, CEO of Asante Aviation Limited, addressed his company’s efforts to resolve accessibility problems. “We’ve been having this conversation to see how we can come in as Asante Aviation,” Lubega said. He drew comparisons to Kenya’s system, where tourists fly to parks. “As compared to Uganda, we put tourists in second hand land cruisers and they are in traffic jams. It takes so many hours, by the time they get to the next part, they are tired,” he said.
With 20 years in pilot training, Asante aims to facilitate park visits via air. “We can have a tourist tour three national parks in a day and they go,” Lubega said.
Uganda’s tourism sector generated UGX 7.1 trillion in earnings in 2025, with international arrivals exceeding 1.8 million. This marks a rise from UGX 5.8 trillion in earlier 2025 reports, and $1.28 billion in 2024. From January to June 2025, the country recorded over 765,000 visitors.
The push supports ambitions to increase tourism’s GDP share to 10% by 2040, as infrastructure lags behind neighbors like Kenya. Arua’s World Tourism Day will host conferences, school programs and a concert featuring artists from various Ugandan regions.
