New show to help boost domestic tourist traffic

By Macharia Kamau

Tourism ministry plans to up the number of local tourists to over 1.5 million over the next four years. Currently, only about 500,000 Kenyans tour their country for sight seeing.

Tourism Minister Najib Balala said domestic tourism was an essential element for the industry, especially in times of reduced travel by international tourists.

Tourism Minister Najib Balala (left) and Standard Group Chief Operating Officer Sarvjeet Channa at Standard Group Centre when they signed a partnership to promote domestic tourism. Photo: Agnes Rube/Standard

"We hope to increase international tourists to Kenya to three million by 2015. If we got an additional 1.5 million local tourists, this would be good for the industry," Balala said.

"The target is, however, to get domestic tourists to account for 50 per cent of the total number of tourists," he said, adding that the middle class has been growing over time.

Tourist attractions

Balala spoke on Wednesday at the Standard Group Centre on Mombasa when the ministry signed a partnership with Standard Group for the promotion of Kenya to Kenyans.

The partnership will involve airing of Travel Diaries by the Kenya Television Network (KTN).

Travel Diaries will showcases tourist attractions across Kenya. The show, hosted by Eve De’Souza, is targeted at Kenyans and expected to play a role in growing domestic tourism. It premieres on Wednesday night at 7.30pm on KTN.

"The series will highlight tourist areas across the country, including those that have not been marketed before," Balala said.

"The show will highlight Kenya as a destination with diverse product for Kenyans and the world," said Balala.

Standard Group Chief Operating Officer Sarvjeet Channa said the tourism industry, which is currently among the largest foreign exchange earners for Kenya, had the potential to post an even better performance if efforts are made to nurture the industry.

"Tourism is clearly one of the core sectors of the economy and needs to be nurtured and safeguarded for growth. One of the ways to boost the industry is through growing domestic tourists," he said.

"The industry segment had improved in the recent past, but there is still enormous potential and Travel Diaries will play part in helping the sector tap into domestic tourism."

He also challenged stakeholders in the hotel industry to develop packages that cater for different economic classes of people, noting the pricing structures currently in place has deterred many Kenyans from touring the county.

"Tourism facilities in the country should probably come up with a pricing policy that is friendly to Kenyans," said Channa.

"Domestic tourism has the potential to keep the industry running in times of low traffic from international tourists."