KTB eyes India, Spain for more tourists

Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) will be leading local travel trade on marketing missions in India and Spain as the country seeks to grow tourism numbers to 2.5 million visitors by 2022.

Over 10 Kenyan travel trade partners will pitch tent from January 23rd to 25th 2019 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai, India to woo travelers to Kenya at the Outbound Travel Mart (OTM).

OTM is a leading travel show in the Asia – Pacific region which acts as a gateway to India’s largest travel markets.

India is ranked among Kenya’s top five tourists source markets from the Asian continent and is considered among the fastest growing outbound tourism travel markets, accounting for 50 million outbound tourists by 2020.

KTB Chief executive officer Dr Betty Radier, says India remains a crucial outbound market through which Kenya can continue to grow its tourism arrival figures that closed at 125,032 last year, a 6.17% growth compared to the previous year.

Last year Kenya crossed the 2 million mark in international arrivals into the country with 2,025,206 tourists up from 1,474,671 reported in 2017, indicating a 37.33 % growth.

“India is an important market for Kenya and we have lined up other initiatives and investments that would boost brand awareness through sports such as Cricket, golf, as well as film making” says the CEO.

She disclosed that KTB will this week be hosting Filmfare, one of the most famous Bollywood magazine for a shoot on diverse tourism products and experiences in the country presenting an opportunity for film makers to showcase Kenya as a filming destination.

Radier said consumer activation programs, as well as travel trade sensitization are among activities planned to popularize Kenya in the Indian market.

According to the CEO, ease of aces to Kenya through the national carrier, Kenya Airways, that flies twice daily from Mumbai to Nairobi among other airlines has also contributed to the growth of numbers from the market.

At the same time, KTB will join thousands of exhibitors at IFEMA conference center in Madrid during for the International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR), in Madrid, Spain from 23rd to 27th January 2019.

Spain has been recording a growth in numbers for the past years, with potential for further growth. Last year, the market posted 25,027 arrivals, translating to 1.24% growth recorded in the previous year.