There is a version of Uganda we have become too comfortable selling to the world: magnificent gorillas, sweeping savannahs where lions and elephants roam, freshwater lakes, great weather and a rich food culture.
It is beautiful, but it is not the whole story. Last week, Uganda had the chance to tell a bigger one. It celebrated World Tourism Day in Mbale, which coincided with the Uganda Wildlife Authority’s Open Park Days that had been running from 25 to 27 September.
Together, these events gave Ugandans a chance to rediscover their country and show that the Pearl of Africa offers far more than its familiar destinations. Mbale, for instance, tells a unique story.
The landscape rises towards Mount Elgon, with Arabica coffee on its slopes, waterfalls and views from Wanale Ridge. Cultural traditions remain deeply woven into community life, while Imbalu offers an experience inseparable from the identity of the people who call this region home. That combination makes tourism exciting.
A destination becomes memorable when landscapes, wildlife, culture, food, history and people create an experience that cannot be replicated elsewhere. Open Park Days further made that discovery easier.
For three days, selected national parks and wildlife reserves, including Queen Elizabeth, Murchison Falls, Lake Mburo and Kidepo Valley, alongside reserves such as Ajai, Katonga, Toro-Semliki and Pian Upe, opened without entrance fees. Ugandans who have always planned to visit these places “one day” seized this opportunity.
Very often, one day can become next year and next year can become never. Such an incentive should encourage people to take their families for park visits or to travel with friends.
Book a local guide, stay where you can afford, eat local food, buy crafts from communities and ask questions. To regional and international visitors, the invitation is the same: come, stay longer and appreciate why these places matter.
However, free entry does not make the entire trip free. Transport, accommodation, meals and guiding still cost money. But removing the entrance fee lowers a barrier, while visitor spending supports drivers, lodges, guides and craft-makers. Importantly, tourism and conservation are inseparable.
A wildlife population, forest, wetland or cultural landscape remains an attraction only while it exists. Visitors who experience Uganda’s natural heritage become more invested in its future because people protect what they have encountered. Technology can also carry these stories further.
This year’s global theme, “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism”, asks how Uganda can use digital tools to be discovered. AI can recommend destinations, translate information and personalise itineraries, while digital platforms can connect enterprises with audiences far beyond Uganda.
But technology cannot manufacture authenticity; it can only amplify stories that already exist. That is why the Mbale celebrations ought to have become a marketplace of ideas, products and experiences.
Conservation organisations, tour operators, hotels, guides, artists, farmers and communities ought to have taken advantage of the event to exhibit, sell and connect. Government has allocated Shs 571.5 billion to tourism development in 2026/27, including tourism-site infrastructure and global promotion.
That investment places an obligation on the tourism ecosystem to make Uganda more visible, accessible and compelling. But money alone is not enough. Ugandans must become tourists at home, businesses better storytellers, communities must see real value in tourism, and visitors must find a destination that delivers what it promises.
World Tourism Day should, therefore, not end when the speeches in Mbale are over. It should begin a habit: choosing a Ugandan destination for the next holiday, exploring beyond the familiar, spending locally, sharing honest stories and recognising that the forest, mountain, wildlife, waterfall, coffee farm and cultural tradition are not separate products, but chapters of one extraordinary national story.
The writer is the executive director of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust.