Northern Uganda is often known for its past. Yet the region is also home to rich cultural traditions, powerful stories, and vibrant communities that rarely make it into tourism brochures. Through Local Tourism Voices, local journalists, storytellers, and content creators are reclaiming that narrative. Over the coming weeks, Vice Versa Global will publish their stories. Together, they reveal Northern Uganda through the eyes of the people who know it best.

Tourism is about places, people and stories. The way destinations are described influences how they are perceived, which visitors they attract and how communities are represented.Yet in many parts of Africa tourism narratives are still largely shaped by external voices – international media, travel platforms and foreign influencers. Local communities often appear in these narratives as settings rather than as storytellers.

Local Tourism Voices is a journalism and storytelling initiative that aims to change that dynamic. By supporting local journalists, influencers and digital creators, the project seeks to strengthen local voices in tourism storytelling and create narratives that are rooted in the lived realities of the communities themselves.

The first Local Tourism Voices Story Lab brought together six journalists, storytellers and content creators from Northern Uganda. During an intensive programme of training, reporting, field visits and story development, participants explored how journalism, storytelling, photography, video and social media can contribute to a richer and more authentic understanding of tourism.

The programme combined journalism, narrative storytelling, tourism storytelling, social media, and digital content creation. Participants were guided by a multidisciplinary team consisting of filmmaker and scriptwriter Cissy Nalumansi, journalist and editor Marc Broere, tourism and cultural storytelling expert Benjamin Loman, Immaculate Kyasiimire (Immac Shantel )Ambassador Local tourism voices., and influencer Masika Carolyne Muhindi AKA Kasese’s Finest. Together, they brought expertise in journalism, filmmaking, tourism, digital storytelling, and audience engagement. TikTok creator Simple Gladys – one of the most followed digital creators in Gulu – also contributed to the programme and helped amplify the initiative through her online platforms.

Rather than working with pre-assigned topics, participants developed their own stories through reporting and field exploration. The result is a diverse collection of narratives reflecting the perspectives of local storytellers.

Photos taken during the storylab

The Stories

The Local Tourism Voices dossier brings together the stories developed during the Gulu storytelling lab. These stories explore tourism, culture and everyday life in Northern Uganda from the perspective of people who live and work there.

The dossier includes:
• Reportages and human-centred journalism stories
• Photo stories and visual storytelling
• Short video stories
• Social storytelling and influencer perspectives

Together these stories offer a richer and more nuanced picture of Northern Uganda as a destination.

Over the coming weeks, Vice Versa Global will publish a new contribution every week. All stories, videos and visual productions will later be brought together in a digital magazine.

Building a Network of Storytellers

The Gulu storytelling lab is designed as a pilot project. The longer-term ambition of Local Tourism Voices is to build a growing network of local storytellers across Uganda.

Starting in Northern Uganda, the initiative aims to gradually expand to other tourism regions in the country. By supporting journalists, influencers and digital creators, Local Tourism Voices seeks to create a storytelling ecosystem that connects:

• local storytellers
• tourism actors and tour operators
• media platforms
• international audiences

Such an ecosystem can strengthen tourism narratives while ensuring that communities themselves play a central role in telling the stories of their destinations.

About Local Tourism Voices

Local Tourism Voices is an initiative by Vice Versa Global that explores the intersection between journalism, storytelling and tourism development. The project works with local storytellers to create narratives that highlight the cultural richness, entrepreneurship and everyday realities of tourism destinations.

The pilot project in Gulu was developed in collaboration with Loremi Tours and with support from the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI).