Obama magic does it for Kenya at World Travel Market

By PHILIP MWAKIO

Even as it braces for the full impact of the global credit crunch on its tourism industry, Kenya enjoyed a successful week at the World Travel Market in London last week.

The Kenya Tourist Board, responsible for coordinating marketing and development of the country’s tourist facilities, rounded off the fair by winning the "Best Standard Personnel" award, for what the judges noted was its "great use of cultural outfits for staff".

Prior to that, the Kenyan stand at the fair was among the most active in terms of visitors, most of them keen to learn more about the African roots of US President-elect

"Winning an international award at such a forum, shows that we are capable of competing at the top level with the rest in the world,’’ said KTB Managing Director, Ongong’a Achieng.

The judges noted the KTB staff was very interactive with both clients and customers.

Cruise ship, MV Seven Seas Navigator from Bermuda, USA, carrying a group of American tourists docks at the Port of Mombasa for a two-day tour of the Coastal region. The ship with 400 guests most of them Americans docked on Friday from Egypt. [Photo: govedi asutsa/STANDARD]

In particular, the judges felt they were approachable and passionate about Kenya, and displayed good knowledge of products. Kenya’s stand focused on value-added niche activities for visitors interested in adventure, cultural tours, the country’s coastline, sport safaris, and ecotourism.

Locally, tourism industry players are optimistic that things will improve next year, as the impact of January’s post-election violence bottoms out.

Their biggest worry is that the global financial crunch that has now spread to the country’s key European market, may force many potential visitors there to shun trips abroad.

renewed hope

In October, Tourism minister Najib Balala said that the lower revenue end of the industry was the one most likely to feel the impact of the crunch.

But there is hope that US President-elect Barack Obama’s historic win may spur more interest in America among those keen to trace his Kenyan roots.

Already, KTB is reporting an increase in inquiries on its website Destination Kenya.

Dr Achieng told Financial Journal that the number of international tour operators willing to do business with Kenya, including those from the US had increased.

"Kenya is gaining. We are now on the growth path and are gearing towards being more aggressive and always on the offesive when it comes to marketing the destination,’’ Achieng said.

He added that already signs are clear that tourism will soon put behind it the first quarter political chaos that brought it to its knees.

recovery efforts

‘‘Next winter, we should see Kenya fully recovered and reaching close to the levels of last year, when tourism was booming,’’ he said. Achieng is predicting an increase of between 10 and 15 per cent in tourist arrivals, beyond levels of last year.

He said that for the London fair, KTB spent more than Sh40 million.

"We did it together with our parent, the Ministry of Tourism, and the private sector, who have always been part and parcel of efforts to reposition Kenya on the global tourism map,’’ he said.

‘‘The WTM win represents double victory. Kenya is gaining priceless publicity after Obama’s win," he noted.

Obama’s inauguration on January 20 will be the highlight of the unsolicited publicity that the former US Senator (he resigned his Senate seat on Sunday) has projected on Kenya, where his late father was born.

It has been a difficult year for the tourism industry. Apart from the post-election crisis, high food and fuel costs for most of the year pushed up the price of travel and accommodation.

Now that oil prices are dropping, the industry hopes the effects of the credit crunch will be evened out by the sustained media interest in Obama’s Kenyan heritage.