The Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) has called on investors and hospitality operators in Kasese to move quickly from conversation to construction, warning that the district risks missing out on a wave of high-value tourism unless it upgrades its hotel stock, infrastructure and visitor experience in time for major upcoming events, including Uganda’s co-hosting of AFCON 2027.
The call was made during a stakeholder dialogue held on the sidelines of the Tusker Lite Mt. Rwenzori Marathon, which brought together tourism officials, government leaders and Kasese-based investors to examine what it will take to convert the district’s natural and sporting appeal into lasting economic value.
Raising the Bar on Tourism Earnings
Speaking at the dialogue, UTB Chief Executive Officer Juliana Kagwa said the Board’s mandate is shifting from measuring visitor numbers to measuring visitor spending, and that Kasese’s hospitality sector must be ready to absorb a higher class of traveller.
“Our job is to make sure every visitor who comes to Uganda leaves more of their spend here, and comes back to spend again, because that is how we move from counting tourists to building an economy around them. When a summit comes to your country, it does not leave the country the same: the conversations between now and February need to be around creating bankable projects. Right now, many of your current hotels have 12 rooms, maybe 3-star, maybe 2-star, but the people who can take you to 4-star and 5-star standards are coming. The question is: is Kasese ready?”
– Juliana Kagwa, Chief Executive Officer, Uganda Tourism Board
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Doreen S. Katusiime, placed the Kasese conversation within the government’s wider national ambition, noting that tourism has been assigned one of the most aggressive growth targets in the economy.
“While the broader national goal is to scale our economy ten-fold, tourism has been handed the highest ambition of all: a 25-fold leap to deliver $5 billion annually by 2040. We are no longer just counting arrivals, we are aggressively expanding our hotel capacity from 10,000 to nearly 39,000 rooms to capture real value.”
– Doreen S. Katusiime, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities
PS Katusiime also urged Kasese stakeholders to stop treating flagship events such as the marathon as isolated, one-day occasions, and instead use them as anchors for permanent destination development.
“A marathon or a festival cannot just be a fleeting one-day event. Our strategy is to convert seasonal excitement into permanent destination development, ensuring tourists stay longer, spend more locally, and transform natural beauty into lasting economic transformation.”
– Doreen S. Katusiime, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities
Investors Flag Key Bottlenecks
Representing the private sector, Mr. Mugisa, Chairperson of the Kasese Investors’ Forum, welcomed the renewed attention but outlined five challenges that continue to hold the district back from converting visitor interest into sustained investment.
On transport infrastructure and road conditions, he noted:
“The challenge of transport infrastructure is national, as we all know. After covering all those many hours – a few hours – they take a lot of time on the rough road to get to the destination. It doesn’t encourage destination travel.”
On airport capacity, he said:
“The airport is not big enough to accommodate big aircraft, but there is potential on the airstrip. What has been promised several times to be constructed, we remind them, and we see the promise by the President, and we wish them to expedite it, which is overdue.”
On incomplete hospitality projects, he added:
“A number of hotels in the city that have been started, because of funding, are not being completed in time. I wish for it to be fast-tracked, but because of funding, it is not ready on time.”
On negative media framing, he cautioned:
“The destination is not an unsafe place, in general. It can be a safe place, but negative framing has a felt impact on us, and we need to be more sensitive when we are talking about some issues.”
And on upcountry amenities, he observed:
“Across the whole country, there is a challenge with amenities, water, and roads, especially in some areas. For example, the stretch from Mbarara to Kasese or the Equator has very high potential, but we don’t have enough water, we don’t have pristine rest stops.”
A Way Forward: Diversify, Grade and Extend the Stay
On product diversification, Mr. Mugisa urged operators to broaden what the region offers beyond wildlife viewing:
“We need to develop the products well so that you have a variety. When you land in this city and plan to take visitors to the game parks, we should also plan to take people to areas where they can view cattle, like the long-horned Ankole cattle, which is very unique to our country.”
He also called for consistent hotel grading standards across the district:
“When you read a report from a partner, consistency is not presented, especially in aggregate facilities, which is not good. We need to show that we have 5-star standards. We need to work on grading in both kinds of ways, all classifications.”
On extending the length of visitor stays around the marathon, he said:
“We want to move towards having a memorable kind of week during the marathon. Our runners shouldn’t come and spend only one or two days and go back. Members must work together to make sure we can keep the runners for a whole week.”
Finally, on integrating tourism incentives with sports events, he proposed:
“When you are talking about having a whole week, we would like to request a special consideration: instead of the usual free time, in the month of the marathon, could promotion be built around it? So that when the runners arrive, they can also go to the national park and visit.”
Looking Ahead
UTB says the coming months will be critical for translating this dialogue into concrete investment, with hotel development, road upgrades and airport expansion in Kasese identified as priorities ahead of Uganda’s AFCON 2027 co-hosting and the broader push toward the tourism sector’s $5 billion revenue target by 2040.
