Uganda has been featured on Season 20 of Échappées Belles, a popular French weekly travel documentary aired on Saturday evenings on France 5 Television, in a move aimed at boosting the country’s tourism profile in Europe.
The Uganda episode first aired nationally on April 25, 2026, and will continue to run for the next one month. The programme introduces viewers to hidden travel destinations with stunning landscapes and rich cultural experiences.
Hosted by French presenter Ismaël Khelifa, the show explores destinations like a local. In the Uganda episode, he follows an 11-day safari journey across the country’s national parks, including gorilla trekking, game drives, and cultural tourism experiences.
The documentary was funded under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Economic and Commercial Diplomacy Programme and supported by the Ugandan Embassy in Paris. Officials said the goal was to improve Uganda’s visibility and strengthen its image as a premium tourism destination for French travellers.
Before the national broadcast, Uganda’s Ambassador to France, Doreen Amule, hosted a premiere event in Paris on April 16, 2026, at La Marina des Maquereaux. The event brought together tour operators, journalists, and tourism decision-makers to encourage partnerships and media coverage.
Ambassador Amule said the documentary gives Uganda a chance to present itself to a wider European audience.
“We are incredibly proud of the strong media exposure Uganda is receiving,” she said.
“Europe has long explored the world, but we believe the world’s best-kept secret is waiting for French travellers in Uganda.”
Khelifa also praised Uganda after filming the episode.
“Uganda is a true treasure of biodiversity thanks to its incredibly warm people, exceptional nature and abundant wildlife,” he said.
Margaret Kafeero, Head of Public Diplomacy, said storytelling through television remains one of the strongest tools for destination marketing in France.
She noted that about 80 per cent of French people choose travel destinations after seeing them on television.
“It is therefore laudable that the Uganda Embassy in Paris is responsive to French culture and is customising content for the channels through which they consume information,” she said.
Uganda Tourism Board Senior Brand Manager Daniel Irunga said the premiere event helped turn awareness into real business opportunities by directly engaging strategic tourism partners.
He added that more Ugandan missions abroad should create market-specific content for local audiences, following the example of the embassy in Paris.
The documentary is also available for wider international viewing after its broadcast on TV5 Monde Europe.
