Marriot Bonvoy and Hilton International hotels will soon open in Kampala and that is a big deal. When you google ‘top ten hotel brands in the world’ Marriot comes first and Hilton second on the list. Both hotels are in the final stages of construction in Kampala. Publicly available information shows that Marriott Kampala is set to open this month. It features two towers, 181 hotel rooms, 96 executive apartments, eight outlets, expansive meeting spaces, and the largest casino in Africa. This behemoth of a brand is located in Nsambya, and has the best vantage views of downtown Kampala.
Hilton Kampala, on the other hand, is located in the leafiest and most exclusive part of Nakasero and enjoys panoramic views of all the best parts of Kampala City, that is, the Golf Course, Kololo, Naguru and Bugolobi. Its construction too, is nearing completion. The two iconic brands are reshaping not just Kampala’s skyline and hospitality but the real estate industry too. The fact that two top hotel brands will soon open in this country is a sign that the big dogs think the future looks bright in Uganda. They see what you are likely missing or else they wouldn’t be investing millions of dollars in our real estate industry. And maybe you should be hopeful too.
Tourism and MICE
According to a 2025 study carried out by Broll Uganda, a continental property management company, the top two demand factors for hotel accommodations in Uganda are tourism and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions). International and local tourists, business travellers, and foreign visitors who come into the country for meetings and conferences seem to be anticipated to increase, going by the huge investments in the hospitality industry, of which the two hotels are a part. Over the years, significant steps have been taken to improve the country’s prominence in hosting MICE in the region. For instance, in 2024, the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) graduated 45 professional conference organisers who underwent a 12 week training in preparing MICE in accordance with international standards. This has seen Uganda climb to 6th and Kampala climb to 4th in Africa in the 2024 International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) rankings.
Convention centre
The new convention centre at Munyonyo with a seating capacity of more than 5,000 has elevated Uganda as a big MICE destination, Boniface Byamukama, the vice chairman of Uganda Hotel Owners Association and chairman Exclusive Sustainable Tour Operators Association, says. He adds that it has become much easier to sell Uganda to MICE clients as a result. ‘Speke Resort Munyonyo cannot absorb all the 5,000 guests that it hosts at the convention centre. So, brands like Marriott or Hilton are likely just positioning themselves to tap into the MICE market that the convention centre will keep bringing,’ he says. The second fact, Byamukama says, is Uganda’s virginity in the MICE market.
A lot of MICE clients have already visited the surrounding countries so many times and they yearn for something new and fresh, something deeper into the continent. And Uganda has positioned itself to be the best choice after the coastal countries. ‘I’ve just come back from a marketing trip in Barcelona, Spain, specifically for the MICE market. And the inquiries are saying, ‘my people have been in Kenya, they have been in Tanzania, we are now looking for newer areas in the region’. ‘And when you give a presentation about Uganda, about the convention centre and our tourism offerings, people say, we didn’t know all this stuff. So they are very much interested in coming to Uganda for conferences,’ he says.
Expressway
The third big factor in Uganda’s high MICE positioning is the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway. The fact that you can connect from the airport to the convention centre in Munyonyo in 20 minutes is attractive to clients. Many of these chief executive officers (CEOs) coming for these meetings are happy to know that it will take them 30 minutes to leave their private jet and be at their hotel. This, Byamukama says, is a big sale that is positioning Uganda as a big MICE host.
New selling point
While Marriot and Hilton are positioning themselves to tap into the big MICE market, interestingly, their addition to the industry will definitely be another factor to bring in more such meetings. Those marketing Uganda for MICE will most likely start mentioning the two brands. The two hotels will have a big bearing on the growth of the MICE segment. ‘Because there are clients who would never go to a country that doesn’t have a Marriot or a Hilton. If you don’t have a product like Hilton or Marriott, they will never book with you to a destination like Uganda. Their presence will start a new day Uganda’s tourism sector,’ he says.
Africa Cup of Nations
With the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) football tournament to be jointly hosted by Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania in 2027, the need for more world-class hotel rooms is evident to comfortably accommodate the tens of thousands of officials, fans, and players who will descend on the country. Marriot and Hilton will definitely host the five-star clients as both are expected to be operational by then. The three cities of Kampala, Lira, and Hoima will play host with games in the newly renovated Mandela National Stadium, Hoima City Stadium whose construction is nearing completion, and Akii Bua Olympic Stadium respectively.
According to the Uganda Hotel Guide 2023/24, Lira City currently has only 145 hotel rooms while Hoima City fairs better with 507 hotel rooms. However, both require much more investment in world-class accommodation facilities to satisfy the growing demand.
Game changer
According to the UTB, the number of hotel rooms in Kampala currently stands at about 3,000, with approximately 650 of these in 5-Star hotels. However, with the planned addition of over 400 rooms under Hilton and Marriott Bonvoy within the next few months, and the ongoing expansion of the Kabira Country Club, all in Kampala, the number of five-star rooms will hit well over 1000. And that is bound to have positive reverberations in several sectors, Amos Wekesa, a tourism aficionado, says. ‘Marriot and Hilton are some of the top hotel brands in the world. Big brands. So, in terms of employment and value to the city, it’s massive. You can imagine how many tomato growers are going to be supplying that hotel.
You know, just agriculture alone. ‘Number two, Marriot is one of the top two brands in the world. They have millions of permanent residents worldwide [in their executive apartments]. So, what that simply means is that Uganda is going to plug into that market, which is a very good thing. ‘Then there are also people who can’t travel to destinations that don’t have those brands. That means a door has opened for those people to come to Uganda. That means a door has opened for other big brands to come to Uganda. That means the stakeholders behind these brands will pressure the Uganda government to market the country better so that more visitors come,’Wekesa says.
But Wekesa is quick to add that the country needs to wake up and do better because as a country, we have much fewer hotel room on the market compared to Kenya and Tanzania, for instance. ‘Uganda has like five international hotel brands. And Nairobi (Kenya) alone has over 88. Do you think Kampala has got 10 percent of Nairobi’s accommodation? The entire Uganda cannot compete with the amount of rooms in Mombasa alone. ‘If you look at national parks, Masai Mara alone has like 5,000 rooms. That is more than three times the amount of rooms in all our 22 national parks and game reserves combined. So we need more,’ Wekesa says.
Competition?
While some experts say the two hotels pause a serious threat to smaller currently existing brands, Byamukama says smaller brands should not worry about competition at all. ‘The market share of those brands is far different from the local market that our people have. There is no competition at all. The arrival of these brands is value added for everyone. If a guest books with Marriott or Hilton, and he has interest in going to Bwindi, tour companies will definitely benefit. If they are fully booked, some of those high value clients will look for space in the lower grade hotel. So, there is no loss to anybody at all,’Byamukama says.
Effect on property industry
Asked whether the addition of two top hotel brands will affect the real estate industry itself, Michael Mwizerwa, the study’s lead researcher says while they will improve the country’s profile as a destination for business and conferences, there won’t be any direct impact on the property industry. “The residential and commercial sectors are unlikely to benefit in the short to medium term. However, the strong performance of these brands could spark a domino effect that then impacts the wider real estate industry in the city,” Mwizerwa says.