By Susan Nyawira
The country is seeking to grow its visitor numbers from
India, the top five performing tourism source market to Kenya to surpass the
2019 figures of over 120,000.
In 2022, the arrivals into Kenya from the Indian source
market recorded a growth of 93.2 per cent to 81,458 from 42,159 in 2021.
This is a recovery of 67 per cent compared to the 2019
performance of 120,893.
Kenya's High Commissioner to India Ambassador Willy Bett
says the Indian community has the potential to add to the international tourism
visitation into Kenya.
He said the current travel trends shows that the segment has
the disposable income and is ready to travel to tourism destinations.
"This segment has really exploded in India and is ready
to spend for their travels. Kenya is in the right position to tap into this
market and grow tourism business," says the ambassador.
Ambassador Bett, who was speaking at this year's Outbound
Travel Mart (OTM), a tourism fair in Mumbai India, further observed that ease
of access and close ties between Kenya and India were major ingredients for the
tourism business and other investments into Kenya.
"Besides other airlines, the recent launch of Kenya
Airways direct flight from Mombasa to Dubai has an impact on India's travelers
as those seeking beach leisure in the Kenyan coast can fly directly from
Dubai", said the ambassador.
Kenya is increasing its physical presence in India after the
Covid-19 pandemic with 14-travel trade participants from the private sector
attending a 3-day long tourism exhibition that ended over the weekend and
attended by over 160 exhibitors from other destinations.
The Kenyan trade has also mounted roadshows for direct
business-to-business meetings with the Indian travel agents in key cities of
India including Ahmedabad Bangalore and New Delhi.
The High Commissioner, at the same time, challenged the
travel trade to develop packages for golfers, a segment he pointed out was a
game changer in revenue receipts to the country.
"Countries like Thailand are getting golfers from
India, yet we as a country equally have better golf facilities spread across
all regions of the republic. This is an area we need to explore to its maximum,
"said the ambassador.
Kenya Tourism Federation Chairman Fred Odek said the
exhibitions and other promotional programs by the trade in India are expected
to bring tourism numbers from the country to about 130,000 by the close of the
year.
He said Kenya was well placed and endowed with tourism
resources to compete with other destinations in the world adding that Kenya's
hospitality sector has strived to keep pace with the changing needs of today's
traveler.
"As a tourism sector, we have not been left behind in
the dynamic demands of the traveler, the diverse tourism offering to meet the
different needs of the visitor and value for money is what has kept Kenya as a
destination above others," said the KTF chairman.
0 comments:
Post a Comment