Kenya Tourist Board goes to China

The Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) and 11 local firms have embarked on a marketing campaign in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou soon after the ITB Berlin 2014 tourism fair ended Monday.

The Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) and 11 local firms have embarked on a marketing campaign in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou soon after the ITB Berlin 2014 tourism fair ended Monday.

This is the second time Kenya is rolling out a dedicated sales and marketing mission in these key Chinese cities to build on past successes that saw arrivals by travellers from China soar in recent years.

The board noted that the Chinese market has shown considerable growth over the years, with added arrivals of over 20 per cent per year since 2006.

โ€œVisitors from China by the end of 2011 stood at 37.400, growing by 10.3 per cent to 41.300 by the end of 2012. By mid-2013 almost half of the same number had been received already,โ€™โ€™ it said in a statement.

The growth record in the past few years is attributed to past aggressive marketing by the tourist board, which has continued to focus more on consumer awareness programs.

Industry analysts say close working relations with media, especially CCTV and other Chinese TV stations that have filmed specific attractions like the Maasai Mara migration, have also propelled brand awareness.

Strategic partnerships

These have increased positive destination publicity while strategic partnerships have opened up opportunity to leverage on joint events.

Airline connectivity has been an added advantage as Kenya Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad and Ethiopian Airlines fly to major cities in China such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing and Hong Kong. Statistics from the National Tourism Administration show that Chinese residents made 83.18 million trips overseas in 2012.

According to recent data from the UN World Tourism Organisation, Chinaโ€™s outbound travel has increased by over 20 per cent in recent years.

โ€œAs such, China is leading the top 10 countries and regions with the fastest growth of outbound travel expenditure,โ€ the statistics show.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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