Uganda’s tourism marketers are done chasing likes. From now on, the real measure of success will be who’s actually booking flights and spending money in the country not how many people double-tap a photo on Instagram.
That was the message from Juliana Kagwa, CEO of the Uganda Tourism Board, speaking this week at the Annual Retreat on Economic and Commercial Diplomacy Implementation in Kampala. Her point was simple: Uganda has spent years building international buzz, and now it’s time to cash in on it.
“Time for strategy is over, it’s now execution,” Kagwa told the gathering. “We need to start measuring our output by number of bookings, not just the leads, not just interest, not the number of likes on the Facebook post or Insta.”
It’s a shift in mindset as much as strategy. Kagwa acknowledged that Uganda’s marketing push through global campaigns, media tie-ins and destination branding has genuinely raised the country’s profile abroad. But visibility, she said, doesn’t pay the bills unless it turns into actual visitors spending actual money.
“We are getting the visibility, but who is booking?” she asked. “Who is signing the people with whom we’re garnering this interest? Who is locking in the dollar?”
For Kagwa, that means closing the gap between generating interest and sealing the deal making sure the tourists intrigued by Uganda’s campaigns can easily find and book with local tour operators, rather than the trail going cold after a scroll.
“We are doing both marketing and sales, that’s not just marketing,” she said.
She also pushed back against decision-making based on instinct, calling instead for a more data-driven approach to tourism campaigns.
“We must make decisions using data, not gut feeling,” Kagwa said. “The question is how do we count actual generated revenue rather than eyes on our screen?”
That means digging deeper into who Uganda is trying to attract where high-spending travelers are actually going, what tips their decisions one way or another, and how rival destinations are pulling in the crowds Uganda wants.
But numbers aren’t everything. Kagwa also made the case for better storytelling, arguing that Uganda has plenty of compelling material it just isn’t always told well.
“We have the stories, and our stories are rich,” she said. “We must become the masters of our products and use storytelling to build Uganda’s brand.”
Looking ahead, she said the country should sharpen its focus on high-value leisure and adventure travelers, while building out richer, more immersive experiences that blend wildlife encounters, culture and community-based tourism.
Kagwa’s comments came during the four-day retreat, running July 6 to 9 at Mestil Hotel in Kampala under the theme “Strengthening Institutional Collaboration for Effective Economic and Commercial Diplomacy Implementation.” The event brings together government ministries, agencies and diplomatic missions to coordinate how Uganda promotes its economic interests on the world stage.
