City tourism forum ‘ideal to market Kenya’

By RAWLINGS OTIENO and LONAH KIBET

East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism Cabinet Secretary Phyllis Kandie has welcomed a forthcoming tourism forum as a chance to market destination Kenya.

The Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) brings together leading international hotel investors in Africa with local operators, ministers, Government officials and experts, who will discuss aspects of hotel investment and operation in Africa.

Ms Kandie said tourism is Kenya’s second leading economic sector (after agriculture) in terms of export revenues and that she was determined to encourage its growth.  She said one of the best ways to do so was to encourage investors from the private sector to build new hotels.

Rare opportunity

“Since AHIF is the event that attracts the highest calibre of international hotel investors, and is taking place in Nairobi this year, we have a rare opportunity to show off Kenya as a destination and persuade leading businesspeople in attendance to invest in Kenya,” said Kandie in a press statement, yesterday.

She said tourism contributes  Sh450 billion to the economy, 12.5 per cent of GDP and it is forecast to rise by 2.2 per cent in 2013, and 4.5 per cent per annum to more than Sh700 billion in 2023.

She said the industry was responsible for creating 600,000 jobs.