Women at the helm of Uganda’s tourism sector

She is the outgoing CEO of Uganda Tourism Board(UTB), government’s agency in charge of promoting Uganda as a preferred tourism destination. She has been appointed by President Yoweri Museveni as senior presidential advisor on Tourism. Dr Ajarova served two terms at UTB having joined at the end of February in 2019. She is driven by the passion and desire to conserve, protect and develop tourism in a sustainable way. Before taking up the leadership role at UTB, she was executive director Chimpanzee Trust, a global conservation initiative that manages Ngamba Island. Prior to that, she was the tourism product development manager at Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). She is author of Echoes from Mountains of the Moon that chronicles her experience, along with other mountaineers to Margherita- the peak of Mountain Rwenzori. Dr Ajarova holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Makerere University, a Post graduate diploma in Hotel and Tourism Management from International Institute of Tourism and Management, Austria, Master’s in Business Administration from Maastricht School of Management and Eastern and Southern African Management Institute and a Honorary Doctorate of Tourism and Hospitality Management (Honoris Causa) from Commonwealth University London, UK. She is the recipient of the prestigious National Golden Jubilee Award, Tourism Excellence Award, Wildlife Conservation Award, Top Africa 100 Women in Travel, Africa’s most Influential Women in Business and Government.

Civy Tumusiime

Tumusiime is the chairperson of the Association of Uganda Tour Operators (AUTO), an entity which represents the interests of the country’s leading and experienced professional tour operators. In her terms in office, she has grown the membership of the association to 475 tourism operators as well as fostered synergetic partnerships with sectoral stakeholders such as Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) and regional tour operating associations. Tumusiime is passionate about operationalising sustainability in the tourism sector and has fostered it among members of the tour association through training and benchmarking. She is a tour operator too, and runs Acacia Safaris Limited, a family business that operates at Pakuba Safari Lodge in Murchison Falls National Park, Four Gorillas Lodge near Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and National Park among others.

Susan Muhwezi

Susan Muhwezi is the chairperson of the Uganda Hotel Owners Association (UHOA), an umbrella body that brings hotel owners in the country together to lobby and advocate for the interests of hoteliers in Uganda, Under her tenure, the membership of UHOA has grown close to 4, 000 hotels with an approximated 95 percent privately owned- only 10 percent owned by foreigners. The number comprises some recognisably big international brand hotels that have invested in Uganda’s hospitality sector, namely Marriott Hotels, Serena Group of Hotels, Latitude Hotels, Hilton Hotels and Onomo Hotels. Muhwezi has previously served as the vice chairperson of Uganda Tourism Board and president of Africa Travel Association (Uganda Chapter). She also owns hospitality facilities in the country. Muhwezi is a passionate and forthcoming tourism enthusiast who continues to steer the association towards sustainable tourism growth.

Pearl Hoareau Kakooza

She is the chairperson of Uganda Tourism (UTB) Board. Pearl Hoareau Kakooza is managing director of Uganda Travel Bureau 2004 Limited, one of Uganda’s oldest tours and travel companies that was established in 1971. Kakooza is former general manager of FCM Travel Solutions (Uganda), and has previously served the tourism sector as president of Uganda Tourism Association (UTA) which brings together all tourism associations in the country as well as chairperson of The Uganda Association of Travel Agents (TUGATA), an umbrella body that comprises Uganda’s professional travel agents whose core business is sale of airline tickets and other travel related services travel destination internationally. Kakooza began her journey in tourism when she was headhunted by The Express Travel Group, a travel services company that was established in 1955. Some of her professional traits include diplomacy. 

Doreen Silver Katusiime

Doreen Silver Katusiime is the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, whose mandate is to formulate and implement policies, strategies, plans and programmesthat promotes tourism, wildlife and cultural heritage conservation for socio-economic development and transformation of the country. She has seen the ministry grow to where it is now. Katusiime has steered the tourism sector towards growth since she joined in 2015. The budget for the ministry for 2015/16 was close to UShs90Bn, out of which Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) contributed about 90 percent which accounted for close to UShs70bn. The budget has since increased to Shs289.6, as of 2024/25. Other tourism agencies, for example Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre (UWEC), Uganda Hotel and Tourism Institute, Uganda Wildlife Training and Research Institute have also grown as well as private sector collaborations. One of things that the tourism PS roots for is the need for conservation and has often embraced partnerships to address challenges faced in wildlife conservation. She also continues to drum up the need to invest more money in the tourism sector, particularly the things that make us unique, like the diversity of our cultures, the foods, ethnic groups because they have not been fully taken advantage of.