NAIROBI: Kenya Airways has partnered with Kenyatta International Convention Centre to market Kenya as a key tourist destination.
Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed Thursday, both institutions will source for meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions leveraging on Kenya Airways extensive global network. The tourism sector has not been performing well in recent years due to travel advisories issued by key source markets.
This saw the government in June set aside 5.2 billion shillings for tourism recovery efforts as well as bolster marketing campaigns to increase tourist arrivals. Stakeholders in the tourism industry have also been initiating tourism marketing programmes aimed at increasing tourist arrivals.
The memorandum of understanding aims at marketing Kenya as a key conference tourist destination. Kenya Airways says it will bid for at least 50 international conferences to be hosted locally, this financial year, to up its revenue as well as increase tourism numbers.
KQ Managing Director Mbuvi Ngunze said: “This is part of a very critical strategy to our business, it will drive the recovery of our airline and tourism as we source for key markets that have potential for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions.” Under the deal, KQ hopes to get passengers to ferry to Kenya to attend conferences being held at KICC.
Through meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibition tourism, the two firms are expected to boost their revenue base by tapping into major events such as the pope’s visit next month and the upcoming World Trade Organization ministerial conference slated for December. Ngunze says the deal would strengthen Kenya’s presence as a destination and Kenya Airways as an airline.
The two institutions would jointly come up with modalities that will increase the number of conference delegates, source for key exhibition markets as well as bid for international conferences. KQ plans to offer discounted rates on airfares for conference delegates as well as holiday packages at subsidized prices.
