Tourism stakeholders have called on East African Community (EAC) partner states to eliminate non-tariff barriers (NTBs) and make cross-border travel more affordable and seamless as Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania prepare to jointly host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Speaking during the opening of the fifth Uganda-Kenya Coast Tourism and Innovation Summit in Mombasa, Uganda’s Minister of State for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Susan Nakawuki, praised the growing collaboration between Kenya and Uganda, describing Kenya as a key source market for Ugandan tourism.
However, Nakawuki noted that high airfares, unreliable services and poor connectivity across the region continued to hinder the free movement of people and limit tourism growth.
“The cost of travel between Entebbe and Uganda is actually the same cost that I would spend to move from Entebbe to Paris. We have not made air travel affordable to our people, and we are curtailing tourism like that,” she said.
The minister added that high airfares had made air travel a preserve of the wealthy, denying many East Africans the opportunity to explore the region.
“People now see air travel as very prestigious because it’s just a preserve of a few who can afford to pay those air rates, and this is one area where we should check ourselves. East Africans know how to have fun. East Africans know how to travel. They want to enjoy at least the region to the fullest, but that is curtailing them,” she said.
Nakawuki also advocated for the extension of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from the coastal city of Mombasa to Kampala and the exploration of water transport as alternative ways of increasing tourist numbers.
“It’s so easy to move from Entebbe to Kisumu by water, and it’s also adventurous because that is water tourism,” she said.
The Minister questioned why East Africans continued to face non-tariff barriers when travelling within the region, including repeated questions at border points about the duration of their intended stays, saying such practices undermined regional tourism.
“If an East African wants to stay for three months, that treaty is very categorical under Article 104 of the East African Treaty. There must be free movement. Let us remove all these NBTs. They should not exist. We should allow our people to move freely across the region,” she said.
She further called for concerted efforts to promote Africa as a single tourism destination, particularly amid concerns over the Ebola outbreak in the region. She also backed the introduction of a single tourism visa for the continent.
Nakawuki said some tourists had cancelled trips to Kenya following a reported Ebola case, despite the country’s handling of the incident.
“I have had many tourists who have actually cancelled their flights to Kenya just because of that one single case that I know Kenya handled ably, and there is nothing really to worry about. We are pro-integration; we are pro-marketing East Africa as a single tourism destination,” she said.
On AFCON 2027, Nakawuki said the host countries had removed travel restrictions to facilitate the movement of football fans across their borders.
She urged the three countries to use the tournament to showcase their wider tourism offerings and ensure that visitors spent more money in local economies rather than limiting their trips to sporting events.
“Football fans are going to be just flocking into any other destination. When they come, our target should be to let them not just enjoy sports tourism but also let them experience other tourism opportunities that we offer and collect the money that remains in our economy,” she said.
The Minister also urged Kenyan politicians to avoid polarising the country as the 2027 General Election approaches, warning that political tensions could undermine stability and hurt the economy.
“I know you are in a political season, and when it’s political season here, Kenya becomes a no-go zone. But you have that AFCON that is full of opportunities for this country. Please, keep the political campaign fever down for the good of your economy. Why should you fight so hard over politics? It’s God who selects leaders,” she said.
Nakawuki emphasised that Kenya and Uganda were not competing for tourists but were collaborating and learning from each other to grow the regional tourism sector.
The two-day summit is being held under the theme “Unlocking Tourism Opportunities: Resolving Policy Bottlenecks through Technology, Youth and Seamless Mobility across East Africa”.
She noted that many tourists did not spend their entire holiday budgets in either country, despite the wide range of attractions available.
“The World Bank has done a study, and they realised that tourists who come to Kenya leave with 50 per cent of the money they intend to spend in Kenya. Tourists who come to Uganda leave with 60 per cent of the money they come to spend. Why is it like that? Yet we have a lot to offer,” she said.
Uganda’s Consul General in Mombasa, Ambassador Herbert Kiguli, also urged EAC partner states to address non-tariff barriers and abolish the yellow fever vaccination requirement.
Tour Operators Society of Kenya Chairman Raymond Cheruiyot called for joint marketing initiatives between the tourism boards of Kenya and Uganda to attract more visitors.
He said the two countries needed to relax policies that made cross-border travel difficult and costly, emphasising the importance of treating East Africa as a single tourism market.
“The only other thing that would need to be put in place is to relax the policies that are in place. We need to realise that we are in East Africa. Being in East Africa means we are one team. All the bottlenecks that come along with policies and all that need to be eliminated,” said Cheruiyot.
He added that taxes and other charges associated with cross-border travel should be eliminated to reduce the cost of movement within the region.
According to the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), arrivals from Uganda to Kenya increased by about 16 per cent, from 201,623 in 2024 to 234,556 in 2025, making Uganda Kenya’s second-largest source market.
Over the same period, the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) recorded an 11 per cent increase in Kenyan visitors to Uganda, from 466,902 to 519,041.
Combined, the two countries received more than 750,000 cross-border visitors in 2025, while both tourism sectors recorded strong earnings.
According to the Tourism Research Institute, Kenya’s tourism earnings rose to Sh501.3 billion in 2025, while Uganda’s tourism receipts reached UGX 5.83 trillion, equivalent to about US$1.62 billion, according to the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities. Kenya is targeting 300,000 arrivals from Uganda in 2026.
By Sadik Hassan
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