Uganda, Kenya push golf tourism at Kitante

The elevation of tourism through sports in the country was first elevated high after Lilly Ajarova became the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) chief executive officer in 2019.

The conversation has oscillated in leaps and bounds across varying disciplines including athletics, football, golf among others but there are those who have smelt the coffee regarding its impact on the economy.

And on Saturday, Uganda Golf Club (UGC) will play host to the Uganda – Kenya Coast Golf tournament, one set to amplify golf tourism in the region.

“Golf is more than just a game,” admitted UGC captain Paul Rukundo during the press launch at Kitante on Thursday. He was flanked by Ambassador Paul Mukumbya and member Juliet Kabonesa from the Consulate of Uganda in Mombasa, Kenya.

Rukundo quickly highlighted the impact of golf tourism to economies in Europe, stating Portugal has an annual economic impact of golf tourism at $460 million dollars a year and 25000 jobs.

Relatively, UGC does it on a low scale. “Every week, we’ve got about 20-40 tourist golfers. Currently, we have a group of about 30 golfers from Ghana.

We have these groups each and every week. You can scale up to $60000 (Shs220m) in foreign earnings from the lot over a week, with each expected to spend at least $1500 (Shs5.5m),” he stated.

Saturday’s tournament is into its third leg, after rounds at Vipingo and Nyali golf clubs in Kenya. Uganda’s team won the leg in Vipingo and the spirit of golf tourism in the message set to be passed at par-72 course in Kitante.

“After the golf, there will be a farm trip to Uganda with a city tour within Kampala and Entebbe. We are driving from the old diplomatic agenda to a new form towards the promotion of tourism, trade and investment as we promote destination Uganda by attracting investors to come,” said Mukumbya.

“This tourney will be based on the concept of complementarity rather than competition. There are very beautiful beaches on the coast in Mombasa and Uganda is blessed with mountain gorillas, elephants, lions and others. 

"We are targeting at promoting tourism with the entry point through golf since the golfers have reasonable disposable income and we want to tap into this market,” he added.

The tournament is a precursor for the third Uganda - Kenya Coast Tourism Conference due November 20-21. To maintain the theme, the trophy on offer at Kitante for the winning team is a golden Silverback.

A field of 120 players including 60 from Kenya is set to compete in the medal format or stroke-play.

UGANDA - KENYA COAST GOLF TOURNAMENT

Event: Uganda-Kenya Coast Golf Tournament

Leg: 3rd

Date: November 9

Venue: Uganda Golf Club, Kitante

Mode of play: Medal / Stroke-play

Event Partners: Consulate of the Republic of Uganda (Mombasa), Uganda Golf Club, Uganda Tourism Board (Explore Uganda), Kenya Tourism Board, Magical Kenya Open