Kenya banks on ITB Berlin Expo to attract tourists

Kenya is set to attend the ITB Berlin Expo, where they aim to market Kenya as tourism destinations to attract visitors.

In a press release on Wednesday, the Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife (CS) Dr. Alfred Mutua stated that the strategic diversification of tourism products and development of tourism facilities and experiences is enhancing Kenya's appeal in the global travel marketplace.

He added that Kenya is now well-positioned to optimize the benefits of tourism given the investments put in place by the government and the private sector.

Mutua spoke ahead of Kenya’s participation at the ITB Berlin travel slated for March 5th to 7th, 2024 in Berlin Germany.

Kenya will be represented at the fair by the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife through the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB); which has set up the exhibition infrastructure and support to accommodate the maximum number of 42 travel trade representatives. 

They will be seeking to strengthen and boost Kenya's appeal to the global outbound market represented at one of the largest tourism expos. 

“The ITB exhibition serves as a global tourism gateway that Kenya wants to ensure that it capitalizes on fully. The tourism fair directly links us with the German market and European Market which are important source markets for Kenya. Kenya’s tourism sector is on an upward growth trajectory, and we want to ensure that we enhance this momentum,” said Mutua.

“Our goal is to strengthen the destination’s appeal in our key and emerging source markets.”

Mutua cited Germany as a traditional source market while underscoring the prospects it holds as a key springboard to Kenya's growth ambitions. Germany has accounted for 69,786 arrivals to Kenya in 2023, retaining its position among the top source markets.

The top six source markets for Kenya as per the recently released tourism report include the United States, Uganda, the UK, Tanzania, Italy, and Germany (211,581, 178,827, 140,768, 140,401, 58,731, and 69,786) respectively. German visitors are among the most travel-literate citizens in the world and usually engage in high-spending trips.

“Participating in ITB Berlin provides us with an invaluable platform to not only boost destination visibility but also engage with the travel trade stakeholders as we seek to optimize our destination marketing efforts. We intend to capitalize on the B2B meetings and networks to cultivate interest in Kenya among the European travel trade and consumers,” Mutua added.

The Kenya Tourism Board Ag. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Chirchir said that the board would be representing Kenya as a diverse tourism destination and would also use the opportunity to attract younger generation travelers.

“Germany and Europe, in general, are important source markets in our long-haul programmes, the ITB trade fair comes at an important time. We shall have an opportunity to engage with potential clients as we showcase the tourism opportunities, we have available for European visitors,” said Chirchir.

The ITB Berlin travel expo is widely recognized as one of the most significant events in the global tourism industry, attracting tourism professionals, travel agencies, tour operators, and media representatives from all corners of the world.

The travel fair is projected to attract more than 10,000 exhibitors and 160,000 visitors, reinforcing its status as the world’s leading travel trade show.

This participation comes in the wake of intensified marketing efforts by KTB in penetrating and growing emerging and key source markets.

The KTB had recently mounted a series of roadshows in the West African regions targeting Nigeria and Ghana as part of strategies to tap into the larger African market.