While the East African Community (EAC) continues to promote the “Visit East Africa: Feel the Vibe” joint brand and develop its next regional tourism marketing strategy, the reality for travellers remains far less integrated.
Separate visa systems, differing tourism and transport policies, competing national brands and uneven connectivity continue to fragment the visitor experience, leaving a gap between the region’s marketing as a single destination and the reality on the ground.
The EAC’s Tourism Marketing Strategy for 2027-2036 provides fresh impetus. The strategy seeks to promote the region’s diverse attractions under one identity with a target of more than 30 million international visitor arrivals by 2036.
It includes new members, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia, among current members: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
Improved connectivity but visa gaps remain
Intra-East Africa travel benefits from improved air connectivity between gateways such as Nairobi, Kigali, Entebbe, Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar although some routes remain limited or costly. The East African Tourist Visa also makes movement easier between Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, allowing tourists to travel across the three countries for up to 90 days.
But the visa’s limited coverage also exposes the gaps in regional integration. Tanzania, one of East Africa’s biggest tourism destinations and a key part of the traditional Kenya-Tanzania safari circuit, is not part of the arrangement.
Joseph Kithitu, Chairperson of the Kenya Association of Travel Agents, says these gaps should not obscure the potential of the regional approach.
“Marketing East Africa as one destination would be a game changer for the region’s tourism industry,” he says. “Today’s traveller is looking for experiences rather than borders.”
Joint marketing
Kithitu says the travel trade has already seen the value of presenting East Africa as a single proposition. At international travel fairs, he says, an East African pavilion attracts attention because buyers can immediately see the scale and diversity of experiences available under one umbrella.
“Travel agents across the region have already embraced this approach through partnerships, joint marketing and multi-country itineraries,” he says. “The result is increased regional awareness, stronger business relationships and greater interest in East Africa as a complete tourism circuit rather than separate competing destinations.”
The EAC is now trying to build on this private-sector interest through joint international marketing. Partner states have appeared together at major travel fairs, including ITB Berlin in March 2026 and KARIBU-KILIFAIR in Arusha, presenting their destinations under a common regional identity.
Hurdles remain
However, regional marketing progress has not eliminated concerns about East Africa’s readiness to function as one tourism destination. Bainito Musumba, Sales Manager at Private Safaris, believes a genuine joint East African tourism venture remains a long way off, arguing that historical mistrust between countries continues to undermine regional cooperation.
“I think any joint venture is still a very long distance away,” he says. “Historically, we don’t trust each other, especially Kenya, which is always seen as naturally taking the prime position due to the fact that it has been in the business of marketing itself longer.”
Musumba says the challenge goes beyond creating a common tourism brand. He believes the region would benefit from greater integration but says this would require harmonised tourism and transport policies as well as a common visa system to make it easier for travellers to move across borders.
“So much needs to be done by the policymakers to harmonise tourism and transport policies, ease movement across borders and create a more integrated regional tourism environment.”
Musumba’s comments highlight the wider challenge facing the EAC: although member states recognise the potential of regional tourism, they continue to compete for the same visitors, investment and tourism revenue, making it difficult to balance national interests with the broader goal of presenting East Africa as a single destination.
Kithitu identifies coordination as a major obstacle. “While every country supports regional tourism in principle, each destination also wants to protect and promote its own brand,” he says.
National tourism boards continue to operate with separate marketing budgets, campaigns and performance targets while differences in park fees, taxes, licensing requirements, service standards and tourism regulations make it difficult for operators to develop, price and sell multi-country packages.
For Kithitu, the solution is not to abandon national tourism brands but to position them within a stronger regional proposition, allowing each country to retain its identity while benefitting from the wider appeal of East Africa as a whole.
“Individually our destinations are strong but together East Africa becomes one of the world’s most compelling tourism experiences. The future is not about competing with each other but about competing together on the global stage.”
