Kenya’s tourism sector is targeting group travellers as a strategy to increase its share of the market and improve visitor arrivals into the country as the sector fully recovers.
The Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife has said that it is constantly looking for opportunities that can help grow the industry by attracting different segments of travellers, both local and international including women from across the world
Speaking during an event held to showcase Kenya’s diverse offerings to a group of 50 women from the coloured girl community at the Nairobi National Park, Principle Secretary, state department for Tourism & Wildlife Zeinab Hussein said that group travel is today a big catalyst to tourism growth in terms of numbers and receipt, especially in the post covid19 era, and that the government would take full advantage of it to pull travellers.
The PS further noted that women play an important role in tourism and added that there were more opportunities for them now than ever before.
“Travel is an important part of life for people, including women. Kenya’s tourism industry is not only becoming more accessible and welcoming to women travellers but also more importantly, to their experiences and wellness. We have worked to ensure that we are a safe destination and that we can offer a memorable and value-for-money experience for all travellers,” said the PS
She further added that the government had put in place the requisite tourism products and infrastructure to enhance the tourism experience in Kenya “from an infrastructure standpoint, Kenya has had a tremendous growth in infrastructure that supports tourism including roads, airports, hotels and also products that visitors can enjoy. Further, over the last few years—more hotels and resorts have been built to cater for everyone’s interests, and more flights are being scheduled into and out of the destination allowing more people the freedom of choice,” she added.
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Founded in 2016, the Colored Girl is a global community of over 82,000 Black, Latinx, Indigenous & Asian women (BIWOC). The group, which is the largest network of women of colour, aims to nurture women to thrive in the world today and transform the world tomorrow by impacting the lives of communities through travel.
Kenya is hosting part of the one-week-long coloured girl Imara retreat in Nairobi. The retreat has wellness, personal and professional development goals which will enable the ladies to have a perfect combination of travel, relationship building and branding.
KTB CEO, Dr Betty Radier, says “the Imara retreat resonates with the current vision of Kenya’s tourism sector – just like this retreat, we are focusing on ensuring that our visitors have immersive and life-changing experiences when they visit Kenya. We want them not just to feel safe but to also carry memories that will last their lifetime. In Nairobi, the group will be able to enjoy Safari, culinary experiences, culture, fashion and shopping among other experiences.”
“The choice of travel as a way of achieving wellness and motivation is wise because travel changes perspectives in terms of how one views things as well as helping one to learn about cultures and other people from across the globe. Kenya is glad to tap into the coloured girls and other networks to show the world that Kenya should be a travel destination for all,” said Dr Radier
The coloured girl global community has a combined buying power of $3.9 Trillion making it a prime target market for Kenya’s tourism. Their key tourist interests include cultural experiences, safari, beach experiences, culinary experiences and fashion.
Source: KBC