January 22, 2018 TnH Global

Kenya eyes 12-15% growth in footfalls from India in 2018

Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), in partnership with 10 members of the Kenya travel trade, participated in the Outbound Travel Mart (OTM) 2018 in Mumbai, India. KTB showcased Kenya’s authentic experiences to the trade from India through various presentations and round table discussions. The show provided a business networking platform for the Kenyan travel trade to engage with their Indian counterparts.

Among the members of the Kenya travel trade that have confirmed participation in OTM 2018 include Wildtrek Safaris, Safari Trails, Golden Holidays and Travel Company and Golden Holiday Travel, Vintage Africa, Silverbird Safaris, Shian Tours, African Trotter and Serena Hotels.

KTB Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Betty Radier said, “the show provides Kenya with a gateway to the high spending 22 million outbound adventurous Indian traveler, MICE groups, Safari seekers and those looking to do weddings and /honeymoon in Kenya.”

She said KTB will position Kenya both as a high value tourist destination offering value for money and also the ultimate destination for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) for Indian groups.

“Kenya is well positioned to take a major share of India’s growing travel market. Kenya is endowed with breath-taking landscapes, a magnificent range of captivating wildlife, a beautiful coastline that offers diverse magical experiences, an array of enriching cultural encounters, exquisite cuisine, vibrant cities and beautiful people propelling it to be the most preferred safari destination.”, KTB CEO has said.

Dr. Radier noted that adventure tourism is one of the segments which is very rapidly picking up in India and for Kenya, it is going to be a major growth driver. India is the third largest source market of Kenya after the US and UK. In 2017, Kenya hosted 64,116 Indians travellers.

“Looking at the momentum we are expecting the footfalls from India to grow by 12-15 per cent this year,” she further added.

“Kenya is among the best adventure destinations in the world and offers array of activities to travellers. For the adventure lover, Kenya offers a wide variety of outdoor experiences; from climbing the iconic Mt Kenya – Africa’s second highest mountain, or paragliding in the scenic Kerio Valley in the North Rift region to skydiving over the pristine Diani Beach or white water rafting along river Tana in Sagana.”

India is Kenya’s third largest tourism source market, accounting for 6.5 percent of tourist arrivals to Kenya as at October 2017.

The Indian travel & tourism market is on the verge of becoming one of the fastest-growing markets in the world. The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) predicts that by 2020, there will be over 50 million outbound travelers from India. The Indian travel and tourism market thus offers enormous potential for future growth in outbound travel.

India, a country of over one billion people, has a growing middle class. This same growing middle class provides a huge captive market for travel around the world.