Kenya Tourism Board steps up efforts to reassure key source markets

Kenya: Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) will this week be part of the delegation that will be joined by the private sector to the World Travel Market (WTM) Africa exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa.

 

This is the first time Kenya will be participating in the three day exhibition , starting April 15 to April 17 in a bid to showcase what the country has to offer and reassure the market that Kenya is still open for business.

WTM Africa is a key exhibition for the African travel industry offering an opportunity for Kenya to network, showcase what it has to offer and reassure the market.

KTB Managing Director Muriithi Ndegwa noted the organisation is stepping up efforts to market the destination by participating in key exhibitions, familiarisation tours with trade and media from key source markets and engaging the market to reassure the country is open for business.

“The destination has faced some challenges recently and we have to rebuild confidence. This is the first time we will be participating at the WTM Africa and we believe it is a good platform to reassure the African markets,” said Mr Ndegwa.

“We will be in Cape Town to let the world know that Kenya is open for business and position the country as the ultimate holiday destination. Kenya remains a preferred destination to many in spite of the recent challenges and there is need to maximize on suitable platforms like this one to showcase Kenya”. During the exhibition period, KTB will launch a Sales Incentive campaign in which the Kenya’s tourism private sector is extending special offers to the South Africa tour operators with a view of increasing sales to Kenya.

WTM Africa will precede the popular Indaaba exhibition to be held in Durban, South Africa in May. During the two exhibitions KTB will have an opportunity to meet with the local South African media and international media visiting the two events. WTM Africa and Indaba are some of the largest tourism marketing events in Africa and are trade events that attract well over 1500 delegates from the travel tourism and related industries with key players in the industry exhibiting.

“South Africa is important to Kenya, as the largest source market in the continent. As KTB we are looking to grow the number of visitors from across the Africa continent levels where affluence are constantly increasing resulting into increased propensity to travel. In this regard, we have stepped up our marketing efforts,” said Mr Ndegwa.

In addition, KTB will from Wednesday15th host three groups from the UK who will be here to sample various tourism products. The groups comprise of key tour operators and media and will visit the Mara, Laikipia, Samburu, Nairobi and Diani among other areas. This is part of the support to the recovery of the industry before the start of the global campaign. The team is expected to interact with local media and trade partners at the end of their trip which will culminate at Diani.