By Philip Mwakio
Kenya will use this week’s Africa Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) in Nairobi to educate global hotel chains on the benefits of setting up base at the Kenyan Coast
In an exclusive interview with The Standard, Secretary for Tourism, Dr Neslon Githinji said the Government would lobby reputable hotel international chains to invest outside Nairobi.
“We already have a number of international hotel chains setting base in Nairobi. The latest entrant being the Kempinski Group. Potential for hotel investors exists in the Coast region, the Turkana area, among other regions,’’ Dr Githinji said.
Starting September 25 to 26 conference, Kenya will be playing host to the first ever hotel investment conference in sub Saharan Africa, drawing close to 300 delegates among them prominent international hotel owners, financiers, management companies and advisers.
The hosts
The Kenya Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) — in partnership with United Kingdom-based company Bench Events — will be hosting the event at the Intercontinental Hotel.
Meanwhile the World Tourism Day celebration to be observed on September 27 will also see the launch of East Africa’s tourism private sector platform, the EATP in Kampala, Uganda.
EATP will bring together tourism stakeholders from Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.
World Tourism Day is celebrated in nations valuing tourism and this year’s global theme is ‘Tourism and Energetic Sustainability’.
This year’s global celebrations for World Tourism Day will be held at the Canary island’s city of Maspalomas as analysts predict that global tourist travel will hit the 1 billion mark this year.
