Tourism CAS Joseph Boinett, Kenya Tourism Board CEO Betty Radier and Kenya Airways CEO Allan Kilavuka during unveiling of Magical Kenya branded aircrafts at Kenya Airways Headquarters, Nairobi on November 25, 2021. Tourism and travel industry stakeholders will work together with the government to help attain the projected one million foreign visitors this year.
Marketing and advertising will be the key collaboration areas to help revive the sector almost brought down on its knees by the Covid-19 pandemic.
They will also jointly address travel restrictions which saw international tourist numbers drop since the onset of the pandemic, with 2020 being the worst year for Kenya when arrivals closed at 567,848.
This was down from 2.04 million total arrivals in 2019. Last year international arrivals increased by 53 percent to 870,465 on the reopening of the global economy, growing tourism earnings to Sh146.5 billion from Sh88.6 billion.
Tourism CS Najib Balala has projected numbers will be above one million this year, driven by an aggressive marketing campaign mainly in untapped markets in Europe.
During a consultative forum hosted by the African Travel and Tourism Association(ATTA) yesterday, the sector players pledged to support government efforts to enhance tourism and travel within and beyond Kenya’s borders.
They include the Kenya Tourism Board, Kenya Airways, Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and the tourism sector umbrella bodies under the Kenya Tourism Federation.
Kenya has a large membership in ATTA which is a member-driven trade association that promotes tourism in Africa.
The association has 600 members in Africa with 90 drawn from Kenya. It serves and supports businesses in Africa and represents buyers and suppliers of tourism products across 21 African countries.
“Tourism and aviation are sectors that are symbiotic and need each other to fully thrive. We must come up with solutions and a standard way of operating in terms of the safety protocols and ideas that can propel travel to Kenya,” said ATTA president Nigel Nicoll.
Last November, Kenya Airways partnered with the KTB to promote Kenya as a tourist destination internationally and locally through branding of KQ planes, creating visibility for Kenya in the airline’s 41 destinations.Earlier low-cost carrier Jambo jet partnered with KTB to promote the destination to domestic and regional travellers.“We must continue to take advantage of the new opportunities in travel, and also look out for the emerging trends,” said Kenya Tourism Board CEO Betty Radier.Kenya Tourism Federation chairman Fred Odek welcomed the collaboration saying the pandemic has affected a […]