The government has announced plans to put up a spacious conferencing facility near the Nairobi National Park as part of tourism recovery strategy aimed at bolstering arrivals.
Tourism Cabinet Secretary Phyllis Kandie said on Monday the government has identified an 82-acre piece of land outside Nairobi where the facility, with a capacity of 10,000, will be established.
Kandie, who was addressing Mombasa Tourism Stakeholder’s forum at English Point Marina in Mkomani, also said plans to put up another convention facility in Mombasa are at an advanced stage, adding that a feasibility study for the Mombasa project will be launched soon.
Apart from the traditional tourist attractions in the country such as wildlife and beaches, she said, Kenya is now exploiting ways of investing in other avenues such as conferencing and sports as potential products to strengthen the sector and make it more sustainable.
“As part of our tourism recovery strategy, we are addressing the issue of sustainability so that we will no longer have low seasons where the hotel industry normally suffers and people lose jobs for, sometimes, up to six months. This we seek to achieve through product diversification,” said Kandie.
“Already we have identified 82 acres of land just outside Nairobi adjacent to Nairobi National Park to build a conference facility with a capacity of up to 10,000. Plans are also on course to set up another convention centre here in Mombasa,” she added.
According to Kandie, engagement of Grayling Company, a UK Public Relations firm, to carry out a global PR for Kenya aimed at improving crisis communication as well as minimise negative news from Kenya, use of global celebrities to market local tourism product, are among some of the immediate plans being mooted by the government to improve tourism fortunes.
She hinted that product diversification through using Kenya’s celebrities in sporting activities to market Kenya abroad are also some of areas the government is using to promote tourism.
The CS said emerging market sources in Asia such as India, China and United Arab Emirates as well as Africa’s Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa.
“In order to carry out these activities successfully it is important to appreciate the fact that we are now increasingly trading in a global environment, that is more competitive with emerging source markets and different customers tastes.
Therefore in order to remain competitive, we have to diversify both our source markets and products,” she said.
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