Kenya - we need the trade

THE Kenya Tourism Board
(KTB) took to the road in
March, hosting workshops
across South Africa, with
the aim of strengthening
its relationship with travel
agents, who, the tourist ofce
says, are key in promoting
the destination, particularly
through tough times.
Kenya has been in the
spotlight lately, following
terrorist threats that have
resulted in the deployment of
additional security forces at
Nairobi airport and in shopping
malls and areas frequented by
tourists.
KTB’s marketing manager,
Fatma A Bashir, says the
incidents have affected tourist
numbers but she believes
the travel trade’s views of the
destination have not been
affected.
“The trade is a vital point
of contact. Their geographical
knowledge of Kenya enables
them to contextualise negative
events covered by the media
and provides them with an
understanding that travellers
to a particular part of the
country will be unaffected by
an isolated event far away,”
she says.
As part of its drive to create
greater awareness, KTB
visited Johannesburg, Pretoria,
Durban and Cape Town to offer
agents and operators training
on its products and, at the
same time, hopefully create
condence in selling Kenya.
“We believe the best way
to handle negative events
is to keep communication
channels with the trade open
and keep them informed of the
situation,” says Fatma. “The
response we’ve received from
the trade has, so far, been
very positive.”
A major part of the board’s
agenda on the road show was
to promote Kenya’s coastal
strip. KTB’s marketing strategy
is to promote Kenya as a
“white beach” honeymoon
destination, which is ideal for
weddings and exotic beach
getaways, Fatma says.
Kenya recently increased
its park fees to help fund its
conservation initiatives – a
move that wasn’t well received
by agents and operators.
“Naturally, the initial response
from the industry was to
start labelling Kenya as an
expensive destination but we
think our message has been
received that the money will be
well spent so that our wildlife
will still be there for travellers
to experience in years to
come.”
Fatma stresses that the
travel trade has a particularly
important role to play in
promoting African destinations,
“which is why we are here to
give them the tools to do just
that”