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Mombasa, Kenya | THE INDEPENDENT | John Mulimba, Uganda’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, in Charge of Regional Cooperation, has expressed optimism that building a strong and vibrant tourism sector is key to raising the tourism numbers within the East African region.
“We can move beyond the 370,000 Kenyans who visited Uganda last year, and the 150,000 Ugandans who visited Kenya last year. All we need is to work together, to ensure that we make this partnership work,” he said at the start of the 2nd Uganda-Kenya Coast Tourism Conference 2023 at the Diani Reef Beach Resort and Spa in Mombasa today.
Over 200 tourism professionals from Uganda’s private and public sector will for the next week engange their Kenyan counterparts at the coast, to agree how best to market and complement each other.
“A big section of the population, including tourism stakeholders, is not aware of the rich and diverse products in each other’s countries, even when the two countries remain each other’s top tourist source markets,” said Mulimba.
Under the theme ‘The conference aims to consolidate networks, synergies, and diversity to maximize the tourism potential between Uganda and the Kenya Coastal Region,’ this gathering serves as a sequel to the successful convention held in November 2022 in the bustling Kenyan port city of Mombasa.
Ambassador Paul Mukumbya – Consul General Uganda Consulate in Mombasa stressed that the tourism conference operates on a model of complementarity, not competition. He pointed out that both countries have unique tourism products that cannot be duplicated, but can be complemented to boost tourism numbers in both Uganda and Kenya.
Uganda is endowed with unique safaris, rich cultural and historical heritage, a variety of attractions of flora and fauna, including the mountain gorillas, tree-climbing lions and over 1063 bird species in national parks and protected areas spread across the country.
Kenya on the other hand, the Coastal region of Kenya is endowed several tourism attractions from the historical Fort Jesus, Beautiful Beaches and Resorts, Marine National Parks, Elephant sanctuary, the Dolphins, Wildlife Parks, slave caves and sacred forests, Vasco Da Gama Fort in Malindi, White sands, the Coral Reefs, diving and snorkeling.
The Conference is organized by the Consulate General of Uganda in Mombasa, with the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda (PSFU) taking the lead for the private sector, while the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities (MTWA), Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), and the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) take the lead for the Ugandan government. At the Coast, the organization and hosting are being spearheaded by the County Government of Kwale and Destination Diani.
Building upon the theme of the conference, the two-day meeting has specific objectives: to assess progress since the 2022 conference, evaluate destination products, enhance synergies among key tourism players, explore investment opportunities, facilitate business networking, and promote the Entebbe-Mombasa Uganda Airlines route. Additionally, it will offer participants a firsthand experience of attractions.
Excursions along the Kenyan Coast have been organized, scheduled to take place from November 15th to 18th, 2023, right after the conference.
In return, a familiarization trip to Uganda from 22nd November to 3rd December 2023 has been scheduled. The trip will include visits to cultural and religious sites, such as the Ndere Centre and the Namugongo Martyrs Shrine. It will also cover heritage and wildlife parks including the Source of the Nile, Bwindi National Park, and Murchison Falls.
Uganda’s delegation includes Bahinduka Mugarra Martin, the State Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities; Vincent Waiswa Bagiire – Permanent Secretary; Stephen Asiimwe – Executive Director, Private Sector Foundation Uganda; Norah Bigirwa – Vice Chairperson, Foreign Affairs Committee, Parliament of Uganda.
Key Kenyan officials at the conference are Fatuma Achani, Governor of Kwale County; Chirema Kombo – Deputy Governor, Kwale County; Clara Ningome Chonga – CECM, Tourism, Trade, and Cooperative Development, Kilifi County; Mohamed Osman – CCM, Tourism Culture, Mombasa; • Gloria Monikombo – CC Tourism, Taita Taveta County.
