About the Uganda–Kenya Coast Tourism & Innovation Summit

The Uganda–Kenya Coast Tourism & Innovation Summit 2026 is a premier regional tourism business event established to strengthen tourism cooperation, promote investment, encourage innovation and create sustainable partnerships between Uganda and Kenya’s coastal tourism sector. Bringing together tourism professionals, policymakers, investors, destination managers, hospitality providers, airlines, media organisations and technology innovators, the summit serves as a strategic platform for advancing East Africa’s tourism industry through collaboration and shared opportunities.

As tourism continues to evolve into one of Africa’s fastest-growing economic sectors, stronger regional partnerships have become increasingly important. Travellers no longer seek experiences limited to a single destination—they want journeys that combine wildlife, culture, adventure, beaches, gastronomy and authentic local experiences across multiple countries. The summit responds by encouraging businesses to develop integrated tourism products that position East Africa as a seamless destination where Uganda’s mountain gorillas, national parks and adventure tourism complement Kenya’s beaches, marine parks and coastal hospitality.

More than a conference, the summit is a marketplace for ideas, partnerships and business opportunities. It provides a structured environment where delegates can exchange knowledge, establish commercial relationships and explore practical solutions that contribute to the sustainable growth of tourism across the region. The event operates on principles of inclusivity, transparency, innovation and measurable commercial outcomes rather than ceremonial networking.

The summit recognises that successful regional tourism requires coordination across multiple stakeholders: tour operators who design packages, hotels that accommodate guests, airlines that provide connectivity, tourism boards that promote destinations, investors who fund development, media organisations that create content, technology companies that enable digital transformation and government agencies that regulate and facilitate the industry. By bringing these stakeholders together in a structured business environment, the summit creates opportunities for partnerships that might not otherwise emerge.

Our vision & mission

Why the summit was created

Uganda and Kenya possess tourism assets that naturally complement one another, yet have traditionally been marketed as separate destinations. Uganda is internationally recognised for mountain gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, chimpanzee encounters in Kibale Forest, exceptional wildlife viewing across savannah parks like Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls, world-class birdwatching with over 1,090 recorded species, adventure tourism on the Nile River and rich cultural heritage spanning multiple ethnic groups and kingdoms.

Kenya’s coast offers world-class beaches at Diani, Watamu and Malindi, protected marine parks with coral reefs and whale watching, UNESCO World Heritage sites including Lamu Old Town, vibrant Swahili culture and cuisine, established hospitality infrastructure and strong aviation connectivity through Mombasa’s Moi International Airport. Kenya’s tourism industry also benefits from decades of international marketing, established ground handling and a reputation for reliability among European and North American source markets.

Despite these complementary strengths, many tourism businesses have historically operated in isolation, missing opportunities to create longer-stay, higher-value packages that showcase the diversity of East Africa. Travellers interested in gorilla trekking often leave the region without experiencing Kenya’s beaches, while beach holiday visitors rarely venture inland for wildlife experiences. This represents lost economic opportunities for both countries and diminished experiences for visitors who could benefit from comprehensive East African journeys.

The summit addresses this gap by providing a structured platform for commercial partnerships. Rather than relying on informal relationships or ad-hoc collaborations, participating businesses can identify compatible partners, negotiate trade rates, develop joint marketing materials and create cross-border packages with confidence in quality standards and operational reliability.

• Build strategic partnerships that expand regional tourism products and market reach.
• Exchange market intelligence, share best practices and identify emerging investment opportunities.
• Improve destination competitiveness through coordinated marketing and product development.
• Encourage innovation across the tourism value chain, from booking systems to sustainable tourism practices.
• Strengthen supply chains by connecting buyers with reliable suppliers across both countries.
• Foster knowledge transfer between experienced operators and emerging businesses, particularly youth entrepreneurs.
• Promote sustainable tourism practices that benefit local communities and preserve natural resources.
• Create platforms for policy dialogue between private sector and government stakeholders.

Business matchmaking at the core

One of the defining features of the summit is its dedicated business matchmaking programme, implemented through the Connect platform. Instead of relying solely on informal networking at coffee breaks or evening receptions, delegates gain access to a sophisticated online system where they can create detailed business profiles showcasing their products, services, target markets and partnership interests, search participating organisations by location, sector and compatibility, receive intelligent partner recommendations based on complementary business models, schedule confirmed one-to-one meetings before arriving in Mombasa, exchange messages and documents securely, and manage appointments with calendar integration and automatic reminders.

This structured approach ensures that valuable conference time is spent in productive conversations with pre-qualified partners rather than random encounters with incompatible organisations. Meetings typically last 20-30 minutes, allowing sufficient time for substantive commercial discussions while maintaining a schedule that accommodates multiple appointments per day.

1. Register and complete your business profile — Add company information, logo, products, destinations, target markets and partnership objectives to create a searchable directory presence.
2. Discover recommended partners and browse the directory — Use smart matching algorithms and manual search filters to identify organisations with complementary offerings or shared target markets.
3. Request and confirm one-to-one appointments — Send meeting invitations with agenda notes, receive responses and build a confirmed schedule for Mombasa.
4. Meet in Mombasa and continue conversations after the event — Conduct face-to-face meetings during the summit, then use the platform for follow-up discussions, proposal exchanges and ongoing relationship management.

The platform remains accessible year-round, enabling participants to continue building relationships, sharing opportunities and collaborating on projects long after the two-day summit concludes. This extended engagement model recognises that meaningful business partnerships require time to develop and often involve multiple touchpoints before reaching commercial agreements.

Who participates?

The summit attracts a diverse range of tourism professionals, each bringing unique perspectives, capabilities and partnership opportunities. Participation is by application and approval to ensure quality networking and meaningful business outcomes.

Beyond these core categories, the summit also welcomes conservation organisations working on community-based tourism, educational institutions offering tourism training, financial services providers, insurance companies, transport operators, cultural organisations and other stakeholders who contribute to the broader tourism ecosystem.

Conference objectives and outcomes

The summit operates with clearly defined objectives designed to produce measurable outcomes for participants and the broader East African tourism industry. These objectives guide programme development, speaker selection, exhibition planning and networking activities to ensure every element of the event contributes to commercial and strategic goals.

Strategic objectives include promoting regional tourism cooperation through joint marketing and product development initiatives, encouraging cross-border tourism packages that increase visitor length of stay and spending, strengthening business relationships between Ugandan and Kenyan tourism operators, increasing tourism investment and infrastructure development across the region, improving destination marketing coordination and messaging, facilitating business-to-business meetings that generate concrete partnerships, showcasing tourism innovations and best practices, supporting youth entrepreneurship and emerging business development, encouraging sustainable tourism practices and community benefit models, and enhancing regional competitiveness against other destination markets.

Measurable outcomes from previous editions include new cross-border packages launched by participating operators, trade rate agreements negotiated during matchmaking sessions, joint marketing campaigns developed between partners from different countries, investment commitments and project announcements, media coverage and content creation partnerships established, technology adoptions and digital transformation initiatives, policy recommendations and regulatory discussions, professional development and knowledge transfer, sustainable tourism project collaborations, and expanded distribution relationships connecting operators across the region.

Success is measured not only by attendance numbers or networking events, but by the tangible business relationships, commercial agreements and industry developments that emerge from summit participation. Post-event surveys, partnership tracking and ongoing engagement through the Connect platform provide data on summit impact and inform improvements for subsequent editions.

Commitment to sustainability and responsible tourism

Sustainability is woven throughout summit programming, from sessions on community-based tourism and conservation financing to exhibitors showcasing responsible travel products. The summit recognises that East Africa’s tourism industry depends on healthy ecosystems, thriving communities and preserved cultural heritage, making sustainability both an ethical imperative and a business necessity.

Participating organisations are encouraged to demonstrate commitment to responsible tourism practices, including environmental conservation, community benefit, cultural preservation and fair economic distribution. The summit provides platforms for sharing best practices, discussing challenges and developing collaborative approaches to industry-wide sustainability goals.

Building the East African tourism brand

Beyond individual business partnerships, the summit contributes to broader destination branding and marketing coordination that positions East Africa as a world-class tourism region capable of competing with established destinations in other continents. This involves developing coordinated marketing messages, establishing quality standards, improving infrastructure and connectivity, and creating seamless visitor experiences that transcend national borders.

The summit serves as a forum for discussing regional tourism challenges, from visa and border procedures to aviation access and marketing budget allocation. These discussions often lead to industry recommendations and collaborative initiatives that benefit all participants and strengthen East Africa’s position in global tourism markets.