Kenya eyes Asia to boost tourism sector

Kenya will be seeking to increase its tourism numbers from the Asian market as it showcases its tourism products during the upcoming Internationale Tourismus Borse-Asia (ITB-Asia)-Singapore expo, an official said on Sunday.

The event is scheduled to take place between Oct. 16 and Oct. 18 in Singapore.

Jimi Kariuki, chairman of Kenya Tourism Board said in a statement that Kenya had been receiving good tourism numbers from the Asian market but hopes for higher numbers as marketing programs have been laid out to woo the region.

"Our numbers from this market have shown good potential, in 2018, as visitors from Asia to Kenya closed at 269,151 which translated to 13.3 percent of the total visitors into our country," said Kariuki.

"We project these numbers to rise by 2025 because an estimated 90 million households in Asia are expected to become part of the global traveling class. This clearly indicates that we must position ourselves better to ensure we reap bigger from these numbers," he added.

Kariuki added that Kenya's tourism sector is upbeat on the growth of visitor numbers between July and September pointing to a positive outlook at the close of 2019.

He noted that within the three month period, international arrivals closed at 604,690, compared to the same period last year which posted 587,385 arrivals.

"ITB-Asia tourism fair presents Kenya another opportunity to tap into Asia market that continues to show potential for growth," he added.