Kenya, Africa’s safari destination
FROM safaris to the wilderness of Masaya, from the sweeping savannahs to tropical beaches and coral reefs, and from the stunning landscape to the dense equatorial forests to mighty snow capped mountains and more, Kenya has been whispering Karibu (welcome) to the visitors from across the globe.
Kenya is known as Africa’s original safari destination, attracting explorers, adventurers and travellers for centuries. A safari to Kenya is the trip of a lifetime, in the sense that Kenya is an ideal destination for all kinds of travel, including Business and Conference and incentive travel.
With constant efforts put into marketing Kenyan tourism and with the word of mouth publicity, the number of tourists to Kenya has been recording an ever-increasing number. In the year 2010 year (the figures for 2011 are being processed), it recorded 1,095,945 tourists which is a 15 per cent growth compared to the 952,481 experienced in 2009. This figure excludes the cross border tourists’ arrivals which could add up to another approximately 700,000 tourists once the results are fully tallied by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
Those who are visiting this African country may be keen for a trip in the balloons that float through the ferocious animals, sneaking a view from height and clicking a snap or two, or for a safari through the frightening backwoods of Masaya, whatever their take is, the number of visitors is on a rise, according to a Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) representative.
“We are experiencing an increase in the number of people from all over the world including that from the Sultanate of Oman visiting Kenya by leaps and bounds”, John Chirchir, Representative of the KTB said. “We attribute this mainly to the fact that most of the Omani nationals have an emotional bond with the African countries since generations and a large number of them are visiting the country for two reasons, combining visiting their loved ones while being in the famous touristic spots of Kenya”, John, who was here as part of the Kenyan Travel Meet held at the City Seasons Hotel last week, said.
The 2010 Tourism performance has surpassed the 2007 record by 4.5 per cent, the latter being the best recorded year in terms of tourist arrivals and earnings. As far as Kenya is concerned, this performance is remarkable and is optimistic to achieving Kenya’s vision target of 2 million international tourists by the year 2012.
The KTB was formed to make Kenya the destination of choice and a global leader in sustainable tourism and to facilitate sustainable tourism for national development and prosperity.
He said Kenya Tourist Board has continued to reposition the destination since 2009 as a high value for high spending tourists and this is paying dividends. India, Russia, China and Middle East has shown great improvement though little resources were put into marketing in the regions. By statistical figures, the United Kingdom was leading in terms of arrivals with 174,051 followed by United States 107,842 while Italy and Germany took third and fourth positions at 87,694 and 63,011. France took the fifth position with 50,039 visitors. Uganda topped the African market with 33,900 followed by South Africa 33,076 and Tanzania with 30,264. From Asian markets, India led with 47,611 arrivals followed by China 28,480 and the UAE 14,874.
This data excluded crossborder travel, Kenyan Diaspora returning home and foreign ex- perts working in the country.
The Travel Meet was a convergence of people from travel, tourism and other allied industries of Kenya with that of Oman where opportunities for joint action and further co-operation were exposed through talks. The aim of the meet was to facilitate one-to-one talks between tour operators to develop tour packages and to attract more visitors to the country.
“The Gulf
region
is
very important as far as the Kenyan tourism is concerned and this is a part of our regional roadshow followed by the UAE”, John explained.
The Kenyan Embassy in Oman also expressed a similar tone, stating “Last year alone, we have issued more than 1,000 (one thousand) visas and with the increased marketing and road shows we are expecting to issue more visas this year”, Yabesh O Monari, Chargé d’affaires at the Kenyan Embassy said.
John says most of the Omani visitors prefer the popular Safari, visiting the animals in their own ecosystem, trekking on a balloon flight to the national park followed by a traditional African dinner. Added to all these, the recently launched three times a week flight by the national carrier of Kenya, Kenya Airways, have also contributed to the increase in the number of inbound tourists there.
In short, Kenya is a place with lots of sightseeing and food options that have been attracting many Omani as well as expatriate tourists. Within the borders of a single country, one will find savannahs rich with big game, timeless cultures unchanged by the modern world, pristine beaches and coral reef, equatorial forests and mighty snow-capped mountains, searing deserts and cool highland retreats and endless opportunities for adventure, discovery, relaxation; more than one would ever expect, as the total tone of the travel meet gave to a discerning traveller.