The Kenya Tourism Board will offer Safari packages to all Team Kenya medallists at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, CEO June Chepkemei has said.
Speaking at the Kenya House in Hotel de Ville in Paris, France, on Sunday, Chepkemei said this will serve as the best appreciation gift for the athletes.
She reiterated that athletes are among Kenya's best ambassadors and rewarding them is part of the department's embrace for sports tourism.
"We have started working with athletes as our brand ambassadors. We believe they represent the country at the global stage better than anything else," said Chepkemei, adding: "Paris Olympics is just the beginning."
"All the medallists will have an opportunity to tour and experience Kenyan destinations," she said.
Chepkemei said they are hard at work in ensuring Paris Olympics exposes Kenya's trade and investment opportunities and tourism hub.
"Olympics is a great opportunity that a country can exploit in showcasing herself," she said.
"It's a platform for us to be represented, not only within the fields but outside and show that we are much more than the world thinks [about us].
"We also want to prevail upon them [tourists] to come home and feel what it is to be Kenyan. We believe the human origin is in Kenya."
Chepkemei said tourist numbers are rising compared to pre-Covid 19 and during the pandemic period.
"We had a maximum of two million tourists before Covid, which went down [during the pandemic].However, the numbers are rising, though not to what we anticipated," she said.
"The two million is back but we are targeting more than five million, " she revealed.
The KTB boss said Kenya had more than one million tourists in the first half of the year, an increase from the 600 recorded over the same period the previous year.
