Kenya has set its eyes on the growing outbound Indian tourism with an aim of attracting record tourist numbers from the Asian country.
According to the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) Ag. CEO John Chirchir, India provides an ideal and largely untapped market for Kenya, noting that the country is now re-positioning its tourism proposition and product as it seeks to attract half a million visitor arrivals annually.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 5th Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) Convention in Nairobi, Chirchir said;
“India remains a key source market for Kenya and this we believe can be enhanced through new forms of engagement such as cultural exchanges, culinary tourism, as well as tech-driven experiences which are increasingly popular among Indian travellers.
Kenya is making good progress in terms of hitting our pre-COVID levels of 122,000 travellers from India. As of September this year, we had about 64,000 visitors and we expect to recover fast enough in under one year.,” said Chirchir.
He added: “However, I am optimistic that we can attract 500,000 tourists annually from India given that the need for Indian outbound travel matches so well with that of Kenya as a destination of value to them.
Besides factors like enhanced air connectivity between the two countries, we also have the required supportive travel trade who are willing, able, and ready to support the trade in India as well as to provide great experiences to the Indian tourists.”
The KTB boss underscored the need of working closely with the Indian travel trade so as to achieve greater awareness about Kenyan visitor experiences and opportunities among Indians.
“We are delighted to receive a strong delegation of 150 outbound tour operators from India for the OTOAI convention.
The fact that they chose Nairobi for their first destination after a 4-year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic is really significant. We are keen to partner with these outbound operators to be able to showcase the diversity, authenticity and really sustainable elements of our tourism to speak to the Indian traveller at this moment.”
On his part, the President of OTOAI, Riaza Munshi, expressed confidence in Kenya’s ability to woo and retain Indian visitors, saying that Kenya offers high value for money to the Indian traveller and is keen to tap into this potential.
“The Indian market is moving toward luxury and experiential travel, and Kenya is a perfect fit for these travellers. India is increasingly emerging as a top outbound market in the world with a young and affluent population interested in creating unique experiences,” Munshi said.
“I am confident that we will establish strong B2B partnerships during this convention and that visitor arrivals from India will increase after the three-day convention.”
The OTOAI is a national, not-for-profit organization comprising India’s outbound tour operators and travel agents as its members.
Kenya is the second country in Africa to host the tourism convention after South Africa with over 200 delegates expected to attend this year’s event.
With a population of 1.4 billion people, India is one of the most important source markets for tourism with Indian outbound tourism expenditure is expected to hit $44.7 billion by 2032.
