- India is ranked among the top five performing tourism source market to Kenya.
- Arrivals into the country from the Indian source market recorded a growth of about 93 per cent in 2022 up from 42,159 in 2021.
Image: HANDOUT
The country is seeking to increase the appetite for leisure travel among Indian tourists in a bid to increase its arrivals from the market.
It will also be pointing towards the move to tap into the growing demand for Indian travelers as the country looks forward to growing its visitor numbers from India.
According to Kenya's high commissioner to India, Ambassador Willy Bett who says the Indian community has the potential to add to the international tourism visitation into Kenya.
He was speaking during this year’s Outbound Travel Mart (OTM), a tourism fair in Mumbai India which took place from February second to fourth.
He said the current travel trends shows that the Indian travelers' segment has the disposable income and is ready to travel to tourism destinations.
"This segment has really exploded in India, and is ready to spend for their travels. Kenya is in the right position to tap into this market and grow tourism business," Bett said.
India is ranked among the top five performing tourism source market to Kenya, and the country will be seeking to grow the numbers past the 2019 figures of about 121,000.
Last year, arrivals into the country from the India recorded a growth of about 93 per cent up from 42,159 in 2021 to 81,458 in 2022.
This was a recovery of about 67 per cent compared to the 2019 performance of 120,893.
Bett further noted that the ease of access and close ties between Kenya and India are major ingredients for the tourism business and other investments into the country.
"Besides other airlines, the recent launch of Kenya Airways direct flight from Mombasa to Dubai has an impact on India's travelers, as those seeking beach leisure in the Kenyan coast can fly directly from Dubai,” he said.
He nonetheless disclosed that the e-visa application for Indian travelers to Kenya has increased owing to timely processing which takes less than three days.
The High Commissioner, at the same time, challenged the travel trade to develop packages for golfers, a segment he pointed out as a game changer in revenue receipts to the country.
"Countries like Thailand are getting golfers from India, yet we as a country equally have better golf facilities spread across all regions of the republic, besides hosting European golf tour tournaments that has cemented Kenya as a golfing destination. This is the area we need to explore to its maximum,” the ambassador added.
Touching on the country's potential as a filming destination amongst Indian filmmakers, he reiterated his commitment in keeping the destination top of mind among Indian travelers.
This, as relevant agencies and partners would be looking into viable incentive arrangements to attract more filmmakers into the country.
According to Kenya Tourism Federation Chairman Fred Odek, use of exhibitions and other promotional programs by the trade in India are expected to bring tourism numbers from the country to about 130,000 by the close of the year.
He said Kenya was well placed and endowed with tourism resources to compete with other destinations in the world, adding that Kenya’s hospitality sector has striven to keep pace with the changing needs of today’s traveler.