ADCCE 2026: Uganda Pitches Kampala for Destination Weddings and Conferences

Uganda has used its first Africa Destination Celebrations Conference and Expo (ADCCE 2026) to pitch Kampala as a venue for destination weddings, corporate retreats and conferences, in a push to earn more from events tourism and lean less on wildlife safaris alone. The two-day gathering ran on 12 and 13 October at the Speke Resort Munyonyo Convention Centre on the shores of Lake Victoria, and brought wedding planners, conference organisers, tourism boards and hospitality businesses from across Africa and beyond to the Ugandan capital.

For travellers and the tourism trade, the significance is less the event itself than what it signals: Uganda wants a bigger share of the high-spending meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) market and of the growing business in celebrations held far from home. Delegates are now on familiarisation trips that run until 17 October, the part of the programme designed to turn event buyers into ambassadors for Ugandan destinations.

What happened in Munyonyo

Held under the theme "Africa Unveils Events in the Wild", ADCCE 2026 opened with an exhibition of Uganda's events, travel and hospitality businesses on 12 October, followed by keynotes, panel discussions and business-to-business meetings, and a closing gala at Serena Kigo, according to Nile Post. Panels covered destination marketing, customer care, service standards and international industry practice.

Nile Post reported delegates from Nigeria, Kenya, the United Kingdom, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Romania and India. The keynote speaker was Frank Murangwa, regional director of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), who welcomed the initiative as a way to strengthen promotion of Africa. Nigeria's BellaNaija sent a reporting team to cover the conference and the destination tours that follow it.

The conference is the creation of Jackline Nanteza, founder and president of ADCCE and head of the Kampala planning firm Stress-Free Planner. She acknowledged support from the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities and the Uganda Tourism Board, Nile Post reported.

The case for events tourism

Nanteza's argument is that Africa's events, tourism, hospitality and creative businesses too often work in isolation, which limits their visibility to international buyers. She told Nile Post that a single international wedding, using the example of 150 guests, generates business for airlines, hotels, transport providers, caterers, photographers, entertainers, planners and tour operators. "Our success will not be measured only by attendance," she said, pointing instead to the business relationships the platform creates after the event.

Christine Ogbeh, a Nigerian event planner who founded Quoram Africa, cautioned that natural beauty alone will not win international clients. She urged planners to move beyond hotel ballrooms and build local culture, landscapes and experiences into their events, and to know their own country's venues and attractions in depth. Clients who choose Africa, she said, are "trusting us with moments they cannot repeat."

Dr Ifeoma Okoye, a Nigerian events educator, put the mood more bluntly: "It's time for Africa. It's time to show the world what we have," she told Nile Post. Mannot Estelle Maeva, a France-based wedding planner on her first visit to Uganda, said the continent has attractive venues and capable professionals, but that awareness in Europe still needs to grow.

A long-planned launch

ADCCE was first announced in December 2025 for 23 to 27 March 2026 at the same Munyonyo venue, and was eventually staged this month. At that launch, Mellon Tukeikiriza, a senior MICE officer at the Uganda Tourism Board, told the Daily Monitor that the event "directly supports Uganda's vision to grow Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions tourism". Peter Kaggwa, chairman of the Uganda Association for Conference and Incentive Industry, said the platform would connect Ugandan and regional suppliers to international markets.

Organisers have said the expo will be held every year and rotate around the continent, with Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Rwanda and South Africa named as possible future hosts, according to the Daily Monitor.

Where it fits in Uganda's tourism push

The conference lands in a busy few weeks for Uganda's tourism marketers. Uganda received a record 1.64 million international visitors in 2025 (see our report on Uganda's record tourism year), and the country has recently courted Swiss travellers through ice hockey sponsorship and signed a tour-operator pact with Mozambique. Events tourism is a different lever: it fills hotels and conference halls in Kampala and Entebbe, often outside the peak safari months, and the post-event tours aim to send planners on to the national parks.

Neither Nile Post nor the organisers have published attendance totals or the value of any deals signed at the expo, so the commercial outcome is not yet clear. Nanteza herself has framed the measure of success as the business that follows.

What it means for travellers

For couples and companies considering an event in East Africa, Uganda is now actively marketing itself for weddings, retreats and conferences, with Lake Victoria resorts such as Munyonyo as the main venues and gorilla trekking, Nile cruises and safaris offered as add-on trips. If you are planning a destination celebration with a safari attached, book gorilla permits early (see our guide to Uganda gorilla permits for 2026 and 2027) and check our guide to the best time to visit Uganda, since the drier months of June to August and December to February are also the busiest for lodges.

Photo: Rachealmaps / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).