Kenya ranks second in Africa in MICE tourism

NAIROBI, Kenya – Conference tourism is emerging as Kenya’s new growth frontier, earning the country second position after South Africa last year in the number of conferences held on the continent.

The placement in the Country & City Rankings 2012 by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) — a worldwide umbrella body for international conferences and conventions — is a boost to the sector that has suffered from travel advisories due to attacks by Al-Qaeda militants and a slowdown of economies in Europe, the major source market for tourists.

The earnings from tourism dropped by 2 per cent last year to Sh96 billion, but conference tourism improved from number four in 2010, after South Africa, Egypt, and Morocco.

The country is ranked 58th globally on conference tourism, beating some nations that receive twice as many tourists. America is ranked first, after hosting 833 conferences, Germany second with 649, and Spain third with 550.

For investors in Naivasha, the ranking is a boost as the town appeared in ICCA rankings for the first time after hosting two international conferences.

Mombasa, associated mostly with leisure and beach tourism, also hosted two conferences last year.

The country hosted 29 international association conferences, with the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) hosting most of them. But this was way below the 97 conferences that South Africa hosted in the year.

“Kenya is easy to access from all parts of the continent, thanks mainly to Kenya Airways. It is also easy to connect to any Europe destination. The recent upgrading of the United Nations headquarters to the status of others UN bases worldwide has also led to an increase in meetings held in Kenya. This will help increase traffic to hotels and boost tourism,” said Kenya Association of Hotel and Caterers boss Mike Macharia.

Experts in the sector say the country needs to upgrade and increase conference facilities to international standards in every county and provide more accommodation and bed capacity.

The country also needs to provide good transport and communication infrastructure.

Nairobi, which hosted 22 conferences, improved its position to 100th best city destination for international association conferences globally, up from the 104th position it held in 2011. It was also ranked second best city in Africa after Cape Town in South Africa.

“We are keen on having regional convention centres in the country as we transition to the county government system.

KICC, the state corporation mandated to spearhead conference tourism in the country through the Ministry of Tourism, has already received commitment from some counties to fund them in line with the country’s meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) strategy,” said the KICC communications office.

This is among the strategies the country has adopted to catch up with leader South Africa that has its conventions spread in eight of the nation’s major cities.

“We have to benchmark and this is why we want to spread convention facilities. We are starting with Mombasa, Kisumu, and Isiolo,” KICC says.

Land has been secured in Bamburi, Mombasa, to construct a green convention centre. The Ministry of Tourism is sourcing for investors to partner with the industry on the project.

Feasibility studies have been conducted in Kisumu and Isiolo and the two have been identified as potential destinations of conference tourism.