A high-level delegation from Roc Nation Sports International touched down in Uganda last week for a three-day familiarisation tour, hosted by the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), that culminated in an encounter few visitors ever forget: a face-to-face meeting with mountain gorillas deep in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
The visit, led by Roc Nation Sports International President Michael R. Yormark alongside the organisation’s Basketball Executive, Isaac Lugudde-Katwe, forms part of a strategic partnership between UTB and the global sports and entertainment powerhouse to position Uganda as a leading tourism and sporting destination ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which Uganda will co-host with Kenya and Tanzania.
UTB rolled out a warm welcome for the Roc Nation team upon arrival, framing the trip as the opening chapter of a much bigger conversation about Uganda’s place on the world stage. In a statement marking the delegation’s arrival, the tourism board said it was delighted to host the group as part of “our ongoing strategic partnership and destination marketing efforts ahead of AFCON 2027.”
Over the following three days, the delegation toured a curated selection of Uganda’s flagship tourism attractions, met with stakeholders across the tourism and hospitality sectors, and explored opportunities for deeper collaboration in destination branding and international marketing. According to UTB, the trip was designed to showcase the very best that Uganda has to offer while opening the door to what officials describe as “high-level conversations focused on sharing the Explore Uganda story with global audiences through the power of culture, creativity and sport.”
The undisputed centrepiece of the itinerary was a trek into Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, home to nearly half of the world’s remaining population of critically endangered mountain gorillas. Tucked into the misty, steeply forested hills of southwestern Uganda near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bwindi has long been considered the gold standard for gorilla trekking in Africa, hosting the majority of the region’s 18 habituated gorilla families across its Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga and Nkuringo sectors.
For Yormark and Lugudde-Katwe, the trek meant an early start, a briefing with park rangers, and a demanding hike through dense, steep terrain guided by trackers who had followed the gorillas since dawn. The reward, as is typical in Bwindi, was an intimate hour spent within metres of a wild gorilla family an experience that has become the anchor of Uganda’s tourism brand and one it hopes will resonate with global audiences well beyond the safari-going crowd.
Reflecting on the trek afterward, Yormark described the encounter as a life-changing experience, one that left a lasting impression on him well beyond the physical challenge of the hike itself.
Building Toward AFCON 2027
Beyond the forest canopy, the visit carried a clear strategic undertone. With Uganda gearing up to co-host AFCON 2027, the tournament’s first-ever edition to be shared across three East African nations, UTB has been vocal about converting football’s global spotlight into long-term tourism gains. Uganda Tourism Board CEO Juliana Kagwa has repeatedly framed the tournament as a rare opportunity to introduce international audiences to the country’s wider offering, beyond wildlife alone.
“They come for the game, they stay for the Pearl of Africa,” Kagwa has said of the board’s strategy to connect arriving football fans to experiences such as gorilla trekking, the source of the Nile, and Kampala’s cultural scene.
That same logic underpins the Roc Nation partnership. By bringing in a globally recognised sports and entertainment organisation known for its reach across music, sport and culture, UTB is betting that Uganda’s story can travel further and faster than traditional tourism marketing alone could manage. Officials say the collaboration is expected to broaden the country’s global appeal by promoting not just its wildlife, but also its cultural heritage, adventure tourism, hospitality industry and growing creative economy.
UTB has described the Roc Nation trip as the beginning of “wider engagements” rather than a one-off visit, with more collaboration expected as preparations for AFCON 2027 accelerate. Qualification for the 24-team tournament is expected to be confirmed in September 2026, adding urgency to Uganda’s push to ready its tourism infrastructure and international marketing before fans, players and media descend on the region.
For now, though, the image that will likely travel furthest is the simplest one: two visitors from one of the world’s most influential sports and entertainment companies, standing in a rainforest clearing in southwestern Uganda, face to face with a mountain gorilla, precisely the kind of moment UTB hopes millions more will one day come to Uganda to have for themselves.
