Known as the “Pearl of Africa”, Uganda has a rich natural and cultural heritage. Tourism is one of the most vital economic sectors of Uganda’s economy, playing a significant contribution in national GDP, job creation, foreign exchange earnings and national development. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (2023), until the COVID-19 Pandemic, tourism was the leading foreign exchange contributor in the country’s GDP with over 7% and directly or indirectly employed over 600,000 people.
In this post, we explore the Uganda’s tourism sector and its contribution in socio-economic development of Uganda’s economy.
A look at Uganda’s tourism sector
Uganda is a landlocked country located in East Africa. Uganda is a tourism destination that has tropical landscapes, rare wildlife and different cultural heritages. Uganda has over 10 National Parks, including the Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth National Park and the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, hosting mountain gorillas and other notable wildlife (TripAdvisor, 2024). Uganda has also rich cultural heritage like the Kasubi Tombs and the Buganda Kingdom palace (Achieve Global Safaris, 2025).
Uganda has been recognized as the top tourism destination in Africa. In 2023, it was listed among the top 23 destination to visit by CNN Travel (East African Trail, 2023). In 2020, Uganda was ranked the 6th most popular African destination for hosting international conferences and events by the International Congress and Convention Association (Uganda Tourism Board, 2020). In 2024, Uganda was ranked by Bradt Guides as the 4th top tourism destination globally (Njia African Adventure, 2024).
According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (2023), before the COVID-19 Pandemic, Uganda’s tourism industry was experiencing the increase in terms of number of both local and international tourists. For example in 2019, Uganda recorded a total of 1,542,620 international visitors with increase of 2,4% from the previous year of 2018. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of tourist arrivals declined. For example in 2020, Uganda recorded only 473,000 international tourists (The Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, 2020). Recovery began quickly after the pandemic as in 2022 Uganda recorded the total international visitors of 814,500 people and 1,274,000 international visitors in 2023 (Uganda Tourism Board, 2024).
Contribution of tourism in Uganda’s economy
Contribution to the country’s GDP
Tourism is among the key contributors in Uganda’s GDP. As shown in the below chart 2, in 2019, tourism was the 9th contributor in Uganda’s economy with 3.64% of contribution in the DGP (Uganda Tourism Board, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic led to the decrease of tourism contribution as in 2020 tourism’s share in the GDP was 2.5% and 2.1% in 2021. After the pandemic, the recovery led to the increase of tourism’s share in Uganda’s tourism as in 2022 tourism contributed 3.8%, 4.7% in 2023 and was projected to reach 5.5% in 2024 (Uganda Tourism Board, 2021, 2022, 2023).
Employment and job creation
According to the Uganda Tourism Board (2020), in 2019, “nearly 2 out of 10” Ugandan people were employed in services directly or indirectly related with tourism. These include workers in food and beverages distribution industry, transport and travel sector, cultural industry, tour operators, accommodation and hotel services.
As shown by the following chart 3, in 2023 tourism provided1,559,147 jobs, equivalent to 14.5% of total employment in Uganda. About 83.1% of these jobs were in food and beverage distribution, 7.8% were in transport and travel services, 5.2% were in cultural related industry, 3.8% were in accommodation and hotel services and 0.2% were in travel agency and other reservation activities.
Contribution in foreign exchange earnings
Tourism is the leading Uganda’s source of foreign exchange income. In 2019, international tourism receipts reached 4.58 trillion Ugandan shillings, equivalent to 1.45 billion US dollar. Between 2020 and 2021, due to the COVID-19, these earnings declined resulting to travel restrictions as in 2021 they dropped by 56% (Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, 2020).
From 2022, after global travel resumed, Uganda’s tourism foreign exchange earnings rebounded as in 2022 Uganda received approximately 1.86 billion US Dollar and in 2023, Uganda recorded 1.28 billion US dollar of foreign exchange earnings. The increase of foreign exchange revenue contribute in ensuring trade balance and in underpinning Uganda’s macroeconomic stability (Uganda Tourism Board, 2024).
Infrastructure development
Tourism stimulates investments in roads construction and airport upgrades, eco-lodges and hospitality facilities, communication systems, ICT and digital platforms for booking and marketing (Westford University College, 2016).
For the case of Uganda, since 2019, Uganda witnessed to growing of infrastructures, mainly:
- The renovated Entebbe International Airport which was renovated in 2019 and expanded with cargo center in 2022 (Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, 2024).
- Upgraded and expanded road networks leading to major tourism sites such as the road Kampala-Masaka-Mbarara leading to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and the Gulu-Karuma-Kidepo Road leading to Kidep Valley National Park in the Northern parts of Uganda (Logistics Cluster, 2023).
- Hotels and Lodges like Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort & Spa near Entebbe, Mweye Safari Lodge near Queen Elisabeth National Park and Buhoma Lodge near Bwindi Forest National Park (Uganda Tourism Board, 2024).
- Telecommunication companies like MTN Uganda and Airtel Uganda that offer 4g internet and mobile money services and other ICT facilities like travel apps, websites and social media that facilitates bookings and enhance connectivity (Lancaster, H., 2025).
Rural development and poverty reduction
Tourism creates economic opportunities in both rural and urban areas. Tourism stimulates demand for local good and services such as accommodation, food, crafts and transportation (World Bank Group, 2017). In Uganda due to the instruction of Community-based tourism, local people, especially those living in rural areas participate in tourism value chain and get greater share of tourism income. This helps in reducing inequalities and empowers women and the youth in rural areas (Baryamujura M and Bibangamban H., 2015).
By taking reference of Uganda’s household income as one of the indicator of rural development and poverty reduction, the following chart illustrate the evolution of the household income from 2019 up to 2024.
In conclusion, tourism stands as a powerful driver of economic growth in Uganda. It contributes to the country’s GDP, job creation, foreign exchange earnings and infrastructure development.
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