Uganda Weighs AI Travel Companion for Explore Uganda as Visitor Spending Rises 25.6%
A quiet change in traveller behaviour is starting to worry destination marketers in Kampala. People planning a safari no longer only type keywords into a search box. They ask an AI assistant, and they act on what it tells them. Arthur Lwamafa, Senior Marketing Officer for Domestic and Regional Markets at the Uganda Tourism Board, put the new test plainly: the question is no longer whether a destination is searchable, but whether it is recommendable by AI.
He was speaking at the World Tourism Day thematic conference at the National ICT Hub in Nakawa, Kampala, held under the theme "Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism". That is also the global theme chosen by UN Tourism for World Tourism Day on 27 September, with Uganda's national celebrations taking place in Mbale City.
The commercial backdrop helps explain the urgency. Uganda received 739,815 international visitors between January and June 2026, a rise of 3.7 percent. Tourism receipts over the same period grew by 25.6 percent to around Shs2.3 trillion, and the average length of stay increased from 7.4 to 8.3 nights. Value per visitor is climbing faster than visitor numbers, which is exactly what most African destinations say they want.
To protect that, Lwamafa argued, Uganda needs a trusted information ecosystem: accurate and current data on attractions, accommodation, tour operators, guides, events, itineraries, entry requirements, transport services and verified businesses. With that in place, marketing could move from broad destination messages to offers shaped around a traveller's interest, budget and available time. A birding client would see birding sites. An adventure client would be pointed to Nile rafting, Rwenzori hiking or gorilla trekking.
He also floated an AI-powered Explore Uganda Travel Companion, built on the existing Explore Uganda platform, which would help visitors shape itineraries and find verified suppliers. For tour operators and lodges, that would be another route to the customer, provided their own listings are correct.
Not everyone at the conference was uncritical. Natasha Agaba, Senior Digital Marketeer at UTB, warned that AI output has to be checked by people. "AI is not always right," she said, urging institutions to question what these systems produce and to publish credible Ugandan information in formats machines can read and interpret.
From the private sector, Dennis Ntege of the Uganda Tourism Association, who is Secretary General of the Association of Uganda Tour Operators, took a practical view. He described AI as a means to an end, useful for customer communication, marketing and faster replies to international clients in other time zones. But he drew a line: tourism sells an experience and a story, and no system replaces the human element.
Government plans reach further than marketing. The Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities is looking at AI-supported wildlife surveillance, digital content hubs and predictive analytics to understand visitor movement and promote less-visited areas. Permanent Secretary Doreen Katusiime, represented at the conference by the Under Secretary, cautioned that smart tourism must not belong only to large hotels and established operators, and said community initiatives and small businesses need to take part in the digital marketplace. The ministry is working with partners on digital skills for young people, guides and conservationists.
The lesson travels well beyond Uganda. Every operator on the continent now has a data problem hiding inside a marketing problem: inconsistent business names, old prices, missing opening hours and unverified listings that an AI system will simply skip. Cleaning that up is unglamorous work, but over the next few seasons it may decide which companies appear in a traveller's shortlist before a single enquiry email is ever sent.
