Corporation: Doing our part to show the world there's more to Kenya

After 30 years of working in the hospitality and food service sector in the US, Nazir Khamisa moved back home to Kenya and joined Simba Corporation to spearhead its hospitality portfolio.

In the last seven years, he has developed, set up and operated one of the top-ranked tented camps in the country, Olare Mara, now a Kempinski; he project managed the setting up of Villa Rosa Kempinski; and has now launched home-grown brand Acacia Premier.

You have made major inroads with Acacia Premier in Kisumu, how are plans to expand into Nairobi and Naivasha coming along?

We have a two-pronged approach for the Acacia brand, with Acacia Premier and Acacia Express. Acacia Premier is a three to four-star brand, while Acacia Express is two to three-star.

Our first hotel, Acacia Premier, has now been operating in Kisumu for over a year and has become a strong player in the hospitality market there.

We are now in the process of finalising plans for the Acacia Express model and will be building one in Naivasha and then in Nairobi. We are also constantly looking out for new opportunities in developing towns and cities across Kenya.

Given your experience, how would you rate Kenya’s hotel industry against Nigeria’s or South Africa’s?

South Africa and Nigeria are both bigger markets, and South Africa especially is more mature. Also, Kenya’s tourism sector has suffered in the last five years due to terror attacks, and this has especially affected the coastal region.

For example, in 2015 we had 1.2 million visitors, compared to 1.8 million in 2011. To take on its peers, Kenya needs to position itself as a safe destination, with a wide range of destinations.

But the good news is that there has been increased focus on Nairobi as a destination, with a lot of big hospitality brands wanting to set up shop because they see the potential in this part of the world. In the last three years, Nairobi has become a very desirable meeting and conferencing destination.

This is an extremely lucrative opportunity for us, however, we need to make sure we have the facilities to cater for large meetings so that we can be at par with countries like South Africa, Nigeria and now Rwanda, which has built an international-standard convention centre.

During Valentine’s Day, you came up with an aggressive marketing strategy that saw your hotel offer a Sh1 million package. How effective was this?

The Acacia Premier in Kisumu has positioned itself as the best hotel in the Western region. A hotel such as this was long overdue in that part of the country, and we decided to take advantage of the fact that there is an opportunity for us to market it as a place where you can experience world-class facilities, international and local cuisines, exceptional service and an overall great ambience.

These kinds of promotions allow us to showcase our hotel as a destination where you can experience all these things.

Why did you decide to first pitch camp in Kisumu before expanding?

We were given an opportunity to work with a developer in Kisumu and fell in love with the location. There are not many hotels in this country where you can sit in bed and experience one of the best sunsets you will ever see, or wake up to the sight of the largest lake in Africa.

Although we already have a location in Nairobi, we have decided to put this on hold as we feel the counties are in greater need of good quality hotels.

We look at ourselves as the pioneers of developing the local tourism market in this country. Kenya has many other attractions outside of the Coast, and part of our marketing strategy is to push Kisumu as a leisure destination. It is paying off for us as we are beginning to get more and more guests.

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