The Uganda Embassy in France has launched a two-week mobile tourism campaign in Paris, rolling out three branded buses designed to intercept Europe’s biggest travel market before it books elsewhere.
The Embassy officially unveiled the initiative on Tuesday, June 23. The bus panels flash images of mountain gorillas in Bwindi, the snow-capped Rwenzori, the source of the Nile, and the golden savannahs of Kidepo.
The aim is simple: put Uganda in front of the millions of tourists who flock to Paris every summer.
‘Summer in France begins in June, and Paris becomes a magnet. Tourists from every continent pour in to see the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, and Seine. The Uganda Embassy is borrowing that crowd,’ said Ms Doreen Ruth Amule, Uganda’s Ambassador to France, Spain, and Portugal.
The buses will traverse over 200 square kilometres daily, targeting French-speaking commuters across major European hubs. To bridge awareness and action, each vehicle carries a QR code that links straight to travel information.
‘We want to figure out what really makes it different that France receives a lot of these tourists? How does Spain do it? How does Portugal do it?’ Ms Amule said. ‘So, this is the reason for which we are also positioning ourselves to get a portion of the tourists who come here in millions. And we should be in position to inform them and to be able to attract them to come to Uganda.’
The focus on France, Spain and Portugal is deliberate. France ranks as the world’s top tourism market, Spain second, Portugal eighth. Uganda was once among the least-known destinations in East Africa, pulling barely 2,000 visitors from the region. Through multi-channel branding and partnerships, the mission pushed that to over 7,400. Now the embassy is aiming for 10,000 French tourists alone in the next financial year.
Ambassador Charles Ssentongo, representing the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called it a cornerstone of Uganda’s economic diplomacy.
‘Coming here to be part of this exciting event is something that’s very good for the nation. As I said, it’s one of the avenues of raising awareness about Uganda as a destination to the French market,’ he said. ‘At the same time, many Europeans who go through here – thousands of millions – are also able to connect with the tour operators and other tourism associations which are based in Europe.’
The Ministry wants more than awareness. The goal is to push Uganda into standard itineraries and holiday packages. Success will be measured not in impressions but in arrivals.
Dr Irene Sekai Nsenza, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to France and UNESCO, said Uganda’s move signals a broader African shift.
‘We’ve come a long way together. I’m also here because I want to celebrate what Uganda has to offer to the world, which most countries don’t have. For example, the chimpanzees that you see here, even in Zimbabwe, we don’t have that,’ she said. ‘And we have to thank the Ambassador of Uganda to France for such a brilliant idea of promoting Ugandan tourism in France.’
Dr Nsenza added: ‘And the local people will benefit a lot more once we have more visitors [coming to Uganda]. Like France has got one of the highest numbers of tourists, particularly now during the summer period.’
The campaign is a joint push by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Finance under Uganda’s ‘tenfold growth strategy,’ with tourism as a primary driver for trade and investment.