ISTANBUL — Uganda has stepped up its courtship of the Turkish travel market, capping a year of accelerating arrivals with a high-profile destination promotion and B2B networking event held on 19 June 2026 at the Radisson Collection Hotel Vadistanbul.
The event, organized jointly by the Embassy of the Republic of Uganda in Ankara, the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), and events firm Globe Meets, drew roughly 170 participants — Turkish travel agents, Ugandan tour operators, diplomats, journalists, and more than ten travel content creators — making it one of Uganda’s largest single tourism-trade gatherings in Türkiye to date.
A market on the rise
The timing was no accident. Turkish visitor arrivals to Uganda jumped by about 150 percent in 2025, crossing 4,000 for the first time, according to UTB figures cited at the event. That surge has been underpinned by direct Turkish Airlines flights linking Istanbul and Entebbe, and by visa procedures Ugandan officials describe as increasingly straightforward for Turkish travelers.
“Turkey remains a market of significant potential for Uganda’s tourism sector,” a UTB representative said, framing the event as part of a longer-term strategy of direct trade engagement rather than a one-off promotional push.
The destination pitch leaned on Uganda’s signature draws: gorilla trekking in a country that holds more than half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, chimpanzee tracking, birdwatching, community-based tourism, and white-water adventure along the source of the River Nile. Organizers also pointed to Lake Victoria’s shoreline as part of the country’s pitch as the “Pearl of Africa.”
The event’s B2B session — pairing Turkish buyers directly with Ugandan operators — was its commercial centerpiece. “The conversations taking place here are particularly valuable because they go beyond destination awareness and focus on tangible business opportunities,” one participating Ugandan tour operator said, adding that face-to-face engagement builds the trust needed to convert interest into bookings.
Tourism push mirrors a broader economic relationship
The tourism drive sits alongside a bilateral trade relationship that is small but growing. According to UN Comtrade data compiled by Trading Economics, Uganda exported an estimated $36.5 million in goods to Türkiye in 2024, against imports of roughly $52.1 million from Türkiye the same year — a modest trade deficit for Uganda of around $15.6 million. Uganda’s exports to Türkiye are dominated by coffee, tea, vanilla, cocoa beans, processed fruit, fish, and handicrafts, among other goods.
Turkish officials have previously framed the trade relationship as one with room to run: Türkiye’s then-ambassador to Uganda noted that bilateral trade had grown to $94 million from $71 million in the prior year, with an ambition to push the figure toward $500 million within a few years, pointing to interest from Turkish firms in construction, agriculture, plastics, and machinery. Turkish contractors are already active in Uganda’s infrastructure sector, including work on sections of the Standard Gauge Railway.
A digital push alongside the diplomacy
Recognizing how travel decisions are increasingly shaped online, organizers gave content creators and digital media representatives a prominent role at the Istanbul event — a signal that Uganda’s promotional strategy in Türkiye is leaning as much on influencer-driven storytelling as on traditional trade diplomacy.
Taken together, organizers say the event marks not a single milestone but a continuation of sustained engagement: building trade-ready partnerships, reinforcing direct air links, and converting Turkish curiosity about Uganda into measurable visitor growth.
