Kenya is among hundreds of destinations
promoting its tourism products and experiences in this year’s World Travel Market
(WTM) being held in London, UK.
The is event happening after a two-year long break as a result of covid-19
pandemic that has minimized physical meetings and travels across the globe.
The three-day tourism and travel expo which commenced on Monday, November 1,
is the premier global event for the travel industry, attracting senior travel industry
professionals, government ministers and international press. The event is being
held in the halls of Excel, London.
SAFE FOR TRAVEL
Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala who is leading the Kenyan
delegation says Kenya is seizing the opportunity to position the destination as
ready and safe for travel. “This is an opportunity for us to activate our markets, show our readiness for
business in compliance with protocols towards mitigation of Covid-19 pandemic.
UK is our key market and Kenya is excited to be part of the countries showcasing in
this tourism fair,” said Balala.
WTM, said the CS, has for a long time acted as an avenue to showcase Kenya’s
tourism product and share insights of issues concerning tourism in Kenya, Africa
and the world at large. “We are glad to be back after a two-year break to leverage this opportunity to not
only showcase our tourism offerings and experiences to the world, but also to
interact with other tourism players from across the globe and in the process gain
great insights on how to better our industry,” said Balala.
The event comes on the back of Kenya’s delisting from the UK Red list which is
expected to boost the country’s tourism sector. The UK continues to be one of
Kenya’s main tourism source markets. The country received 27,036 from the UK in
the period January to September making it the largest contributor of arrivals from
Europe. The Kenyan delegation will therefore be looking to leverage the event as
the country seeks to lure more visitors from the UK and Europe at large.
KTB CEO, Betty Radier said that they are working towards recovering their tourism numbers from the international market after the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Events like WTM give us an opportunity to understand what travellers are looking out for. The fact that this is one of the international events being held this year physically is an indication that we are heading for the recovery path of global tourism and travel.
“We are also glad that travellers from the UK and the larger Europe can now come to Kenya without much restriction as we continue to scale up covid-19 mitigation measures,” Radier said.
Between January to September this year, Kenya received 27,036 visitors from the UK market marking the largest number of tourists arriving from Europe.
