Stakeholders in Kenya’s tourism have laid out plans to consider Africa as a key regional market to grow its tourism business, according to a senior official.
Betty Radier, Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) CEO, said on Thursday evening Nairobi is also partnering with the rest of East Africa to provide a larger bouquet for travellers from the West African region led by Nigeria.
“We are actively engaging with travel agents and tour operators in Nigeria to expose them to the diverse tourist offering in Kenya and the rest of East Africa that would be of interest to travelers from Nigeria and the rest of West Africa,” Radier said on the sidelines of the ongoing Magical Kenya Travel Expo in Nairobi.
About 150 tourism buyers and 20 international media personalities are in the country during the three-day expo, which began on Wednesday.
Radier said the expo has enabled Kenya bring together players in Africa’s tourism sector to get a better insight into the diverse and authentic tourism products that Kenya has to offer.
She said the expo, which has drawn the participation of travel trade partners from across the continent, has helped Kenya to be part of efforts to grow a unified brand for Africa as a destination.
According to the UN World Tourism Organization, the number of Africa outbound market will reach 62 million by 2030 as the continent gradually emerges not only as a tourism destination but also as a tourist source market.
According to statistics from KTB, Africa is currently Kenya’s second biggest source market by region, having contributed 29 percent of total tourist arrivals to Kenya in 2017.
According to KTB, Uganda is Kenya’s top tourism source market in Africa, as it commanded 6.4 percent of arrivals in 2017.
There were 61,542 arrivals from Uganda in 2017 up from 51,023 in 2016, according to data from KTB.
Tags: Kenya targets Africa
