Mbale’s World Tourism Day: Turning Elgon’s assets into multi-day experiences

# What happened in Mbale On World Tourism Day, Uganda took its national celebration to Mbale to show a different tourism strategy for the Elgon region: turn many local assets into joined-up visitor experiences rather than rely on a single attraction.

# The central idea

# Concrete elements on display

• Mount Elgon Hotel reopened after renovation. It dates to the 1950s and serves as a city base for exploring nearby attractions. The reopening was opened by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
• Wanale Hill hosted a mountain walk that demonstrated the kind of participatory adventure visitors now expect: walking, climbing and direct interaction with landscape.
• The Imbalu season—an important Bamasaaba cultural rite—coincided with the celebrations, presenting calendar-driven event tourism.
• Coffee experiences on local farms and a newly established regional wildlife centre were part of the programme, offering agricultural and wildlife layers to the visitor circuit.

# Why this matters for Uganda's tourism numbers Officials presented recent national figures at the event: 1.64 million international tourist arrivals in 2025, generating about US$1.62 billion in tourism receipts, with the sector directly supporting more than 876,000 jobs. The Mbale approach aims to grow those returns by increasing length of stay and visitor spending across multiple sectors.

# What leaders said

# Practical implications for the Elgon region Restoring heritage buildings like Mount Elgon Hotel provides an urban anchor for rural circuits. Trails and guided walks make natural sites participatory. Cultural seasons such as Imbalu provide reliable event dates to market. Coffee and farm tours add hands-on agri-tourism that appeals to food and experience-driven travellers.

# Next steps implied by the event

• Build and market linked itineraries that combine city stays, hiking, cultural events and farm visits.
• Invest in small infrastructure and services that capture visitor spending (transport links, guide training, local craft value chains).
• Use renovated heritage sites as hubs for information and bookings so visitors move into the wider Elgon circuit.

# Bottom line Mbale's World Tourism Day presented a practical playbook: diversify the visitor offer around participatory experiences and built assets, and package them together so tourism spending benefits many parts of the local economy.