#AdventureTourismUG
Adventure Tourism Uganda
Adventure Tourism Uganda is an initiative of likeminded companies that develop and promote adventure and cultural tourism in Uganda.
About the Project
Spectacular landscapes, great apes and the big five, a rich variety of cultures and the most welcoming people make Uganda an unforgettable travel destination. However, much of Uganda’s adventure and cultural tourism potential remains untapped. Adventure Tourism Uganda boosts the sector by unlocking and marketing activities like hiking, cycling, running, and cultural experiences, alongside professional skills development.
Activites
Cycling Tourism
Adventurous & healthy: cycling is a great way to experience Uganda’s diverse landscapes.
Cycling Tourism
Uganda is a rough diamond when it comes to cycling; mountain biking in particular. With its mix of landscapes, that can be both hilly and flat, Uganda has something to offer for every cyclist. The overall safety, the welcoming, English speaking population and the short distances between villages add to the potential for cycling.
Being environmentally sustainable and healthy, cycling forms a great alternative to the typical car-based tourism itineraries. In addition, it provides plenty of opportunities for shops, activity providers and guesthouses and hotels along the route.
As Uganda boasts such a diversity of landscapes on a relatively small territory, this pillar aims to connect those landscapes through the planning of national cycling route, which would for example link the Southwest to the Northeast of the country: Kisoro to Kidepo. Tourists may want to cycle it in its entirety but may also be interested to explore certain parts of it.
In addition, cycling can be a wonderful way to explore the national parks and other protected areas of Uganda. At this moment, Lake Mburo is the only national park where cycling is allowed, yet many others have great potential for it as well. In collaboration with the Uganda Wildlife Authority, we will explore the potential for cycling in other national parks as well. We will focus on the potential of the trails, what is needed to develop the supporting infrastructure and how safety can be guaranteed.
Finally, the activities will include bicycle guide trainings, which will take place in various parts of the country.
This pillar is initiated by Red Dirt Uganda, a Ugandan-Dutch frontrunner in cycling activities and TransAtlas Bike, a Dutch cycling tour company. Feel free to get in touch if you see possibilities for collaboration.

Running Tourism
High altitudes & spectacular views: Mt. Elgon is becoming a runner’s paradise.
Running Tourism

A growing niche of tourists, including amateur and (semi-)professional runners is traveling around the world to combine long-distance running with other holiday activities. The Sebei region on the slopes of Mt. Elgon is rapidly becoming a hotspot for long-distance running and in produces some of the best athletes in the world. This offer plenty of business opportunities, including tourism-related activities. The local communities and their businesses are currently working to come up with a collective and coherent strategy to play into the opportunities that arise in running tourism.
The activities under this pillar serve to help develop the running tourism sector in Sebei. It includes a feasibility study, training of local tourism companies and professionals and the execution of a pilot running event. The capacity-building will focus on race and workshop organizers, local tour guides, running and sports coaches and local tourism companies. It will positively impact the region by creating linkages between sports projects and other tourism initiatives, development of the local economy through infrastructure development and through employment creation. In addition, spill-over effects are to be expected in other tourism niches in the region, including coffee tourism and hiking.

This pillar is initiated by Home of Friends Guesthouse, a Ugandan-Dutch guesthouse in Kapchorwa that has been active in sports and tourism development in the region and one of the founding partners of Run Kapchorwa. Feel free to get in touch if you see possibilities for collaboration.
Hiking Tourism
Forget Kilimanjaro: Uganda’s peaks offer breathtaking, off-the-beaten-path adventures at accessible prices.
Hiking Tourism
Uganda has plenty of mountains that have a lot of potential for hiking, yet the numbers of tourists exploring them is limited, compared to the number of visitors on, for example, Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya. Mountains in Uganda include the Rwenzori Mountains, the Virungas, Mt. Elgon and the mountains of Karamoja (Mt. Moroto, Mt. Napak and Mt. Kadam). The activities on each of these mountains are in need of further professionalization. The trails are underdeveloped or non-existent and the guides, porters and supporting staff are often underskilled. This is a pity, as these mountains tend to be located in relatively poor regions of the country and a booming hiking business may provide plenty of business and employment opportunities for the local communities.
Led by hiking expert Jan Bakker and in collaboration with the Dutch hiking tour operator Bergwandelen.com, this pillar serves to further professionalize hiking activities offered by local service providers in the Rwenzori Mountains, Mt. Elgon and the mountains of Karamoja. The focus will lie on exploring the potential of new trails on these mountains as well as training the guides. Feel free to get in touch if you see possibilities for collaboration.
Wildwater Rafting
Water rush: Uganda's rivers offer world-class wildwater rafting adventure combining adrenaline-pumping rapids with breathtaking scenery for an unforgettable experience.
Wildwater Rafting
As Uganda boasts a wide variety of rivers across its diverse landscapes, this pillar aims to expand wildwater rafting beyond its traditional home in Jinja, long known as the heart of rafting on the Nile.
With new opportunities now opening in the Rwenzori region, the idea is to connect Uganda’s adventure offer by introducing rafting experiences in different parts of the country.
In the southwest, River Birira flows through a tropical rainforest in Rukungiri district. Here, visitors can enjoy day trips that combine the thrill of rafting with the beauty of one of Uganda’s most stunning rivers.


This not only adds variety for adventure travelers but also allows them to explore different regions through the same activity, whether they come for Jinja’s rapids or the hidden gems of the Rwenzori.
In addition, wildwater rafting provides new opportunities for community involvement and local enterprise development. By exploring how to build safe access points, develop guiding expertise, and strengthen the necessary infrastructure, this activity can be scaled to benefit both visitors and host communities.
This pillar has been initiated by Sana Gorilla, a Ugandan operator based in Rukungiri, who are pioneering rafting trips on River Birira. Feel free to reach out if you see possibilities for collaboration.
Motorcycle Tourism
Two wheel adventures: motorcycling is a great way to reach even the most remote hidden gems.
Motorcycle Tourism

As motorcycles are one of the most widely used means of transport in Uganda, this pillar explores their potential as a driver of adventure tourism. Known locally as boda bodas, motorcycles connect towns, villages, and remote corners that larger vehicles often cannot reach.
Building on this everyday practicality, motorcycle tourism opens new opportunities for travelers to explore Uganda’s diverse landscapes in an authentic and accessible way.
From the streets of Kampala to the winding roads of the Rwenzori Mountains and the wide-open plains of Karamoja, traveling by motorcycle allows visitors to experience Uganda at a closer pace.
It offers the freedom to go off the beaten track, discover hidden waterfalls, visit local markets, and connect with communities that remain out of reach for most tourists.
Cultural Tourism
Culture in every corner: discover Uganda’s rich traditions, united by warm hospitality.
Cultural Tourism

With all its cultural diversity and the sense of pride that many Ugandans feel in showcasing their customs and traditions, the potential of cultural tourism in Uganda is tremendous. Since most of the cultural tourism initiatives in the country are initiated by grassroots organizations, their profits tend to help the local communities directly. However, many of these initiatives are fragmented and lack the linkages to be directly incorporated in typical itineraries.
Although all regions of Uganda have great potential for cultural tourism, the poorest region of Uganda, Karamoja, is particular promising for that activity. The Karimojong, the Ik and other tribes in that region often live as semi-nomadic pastoralists and hold on tightly to their traditions. A visit to the kraal where herdsmen sleep with their cattle together at night is a truly wonderful experience that cannot be found anywhere else in the country.

Visitors to the region will currently not experience any form of inauthenticity and overcrowding of tourists, which is something worth protecting. As such, any attempt to develop tourism in the region needs to be socially sustainable. Still, further professionalization of these tourism activities will help the local communities as it can create business opportunities and employment for young people.
In this project a feasibility study will be conducted on this trail and together with the local communities we will explore how it can be most beneficial to them. We will start awareness-raising campaigns to interact with the local communities about tourism, we will interact with small businesses along the trail on how they can make a business case from the presence of tourists and we will train young people in the skills that are needed to make a career in tourism.

The cultural tourism pillar is an initiative of Kara-Tunga Arts & Tours, a Karimojong-Dutch tour operator based in Moroto. They are a leading party in tourism development in Karamoja and the initiator of the Karamoja Tourism Academy. Feel free to get in touch if you see possibilities for collaboration.
Tour Guiding
Tourists deserve the best guides. Uganda has plenty to offer.
Tour Guiding
The pillar for professional tour guiding is led by Matoke Tours, a reputable tour operator offering customized full-package itineraries within East Africa, with Uganda at the heart of its operations.
With primate and safari tourism as Uganda’s more prominent tourism attractions, adventure travel has until recently been considered a special interest “niche” product. Consequently, experienced Adventure Travel Guides, who have both the specific expertise and soft skills required, are scarce and in high demand.
To address this scarcity, Matoke Tours will develop a training program for professional Adventure Travel Guides in Uganda to give qualified guides the opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge about adventure travel as well as further develop their soft-skills, such as high-level customer service, planning and intercultural communication.


The guide trainings will take place over the course of 3 years and will consist of a 1-week basic training in Kampala and two 1-week regional trainings in the field per year with focus on both nature-based active travel and cultural experiences.
To participate in the 3-year guide training, guides will have to go through an application process and an entry level test. 40 guides will be selected for the 1 week-introductory level tour-guiding training, of which 30 guides will qualify for the 3-year regional specialization program.
Within the program, there will be a dedicated track for female tour guides. Societal and economic barriers often make it impossible for women to consider a career in tour guiding in Uganda. To contribute towards a change in perspection, Matoke Tours actively encourages aspiring female tour guides to participate in their trainings and offers support through additional training modules e.g. on safety and security or on career development in a male-dominate profession and throughmentorship programs for female guides.
Feel free to get in touch if you see possibilities for collaboration.
Advanced Hospitality Training
One is never finished learning, as there is always room for improvement.
Advanced Hospitality Training

In Uganda the possibilities for additional training while already working in tourism & hospitality is limited. That is one of the reasons why it is relatively difficult to make a vertical career growth within the sector. Since many companies have to make large investments to hire foreign managers and other high-level staff, the call for short, relevant, advanced level in-service trainings is large.
Under this pillar we aim to provide just that. By giving a kick start to advanced level in-service training that are designed in collaboration with the private sector we aim to further professionalize the human resources in the tourism & hospitality sector. The focus will lie on management training, digital marketing and coffee tourism.
The management trainings will focus on a range of skills including effective leadership, teamwork and customer care. It will be of particular interest to high-potential youngsters who already hold a management position or are dedicated to get one in the future.
Digital marketing is a difficult topic for many tourism companies as they did not receive any training by experts on it. By training representatives of tour operators and accommodation providers in digital marketing we aim to strengthen their company’s online presence.
Finally, Uganda’s coffee industry is increasingly looking towards tourism and many coffee estates start to offer tours as well. In addition, a particular niche of tourists is visiting Uganda for the specific focus of visiting coffee estates. Still, the coffee companies have had little training in how to maximize the potential of their tourism activities. By providing relevant trainings to coffee estates and their site guides, we aim to further professionalize the coffee tourism sector in Uganda.

The advanced in-service training pillar is initiated by EyeOpenerWorks, a Dutch-Ugandan social business that is based in Kampala. EyeOpenerWorks specializes in the field of active learning and has been active in various tourism development initiatives. The trainings will be open for various tourism professionals, although selection criteria will be applied. Feel free to get in touch if you see possibilities for collaboration.
News Updates
A magazine developed by adventure lovers
Adventure Tourism Uganda Magazine, developed by fellow adventure lovers, will be officially…
These 10 best day hikes in Uganda will leave you breathless (in a good way!)
When people think of hiking in Africa, the first thing that comes…
The Adventure Tourism EXPO in Kampala: a roaring success
On the 5th of May this year, we hosted different stakeholders and…
Why Adventure Tourism in Uganda?
Uganda is simply beautiful. From the wild waters of the Nile to the snow-capped peaks of the Rwenzori mountains, from the rainforests of Kibale to the arid plans of Kidepo, the country offers nearly every landscape found on the African continent. With more than 40 indigenous languages, the cultural diversity equally impressive, and in every region of Uganda visitors are met with a warm welcome. It’s no wonder Winston Churchill called Uganda ‘the Pearl of Africa’.
Uganda still has an off-the-beaten-track feel, but its tourism sector is growing quickly. This growth brings jobs, business opportunities, and supports the conservation of protected areas. If developed responsibly and sustainably tourism has the potential to deliver even greater benefits.
Most tourists visit Uganda to see the endangered mountain gorillas and the rich variety of savanna wildlife. And for good reasons: standing face-to-face with a silverback or a majestic elephant is unforgettable. Yet Uganda offers so much more than wildlife alone. Check needed!

Resources
Several reports have been published by the project partners and aim to further develop adventure tourism in Uganda. Download them here.

Would you like to collaborate or participate in any of our trainings?
Contact
For inquiries and tourism-related information, reach out to local tour operators or tourism associations in Uganda. For any inquiries please email;
#AdventureTourismUG