HOPES ARE HIGH THAT ASTA CHOOSES KENYA FOR THE 2017 CONVENTION
(Posted 28th January 2016)
The leadership of ASTA, the American Society of Travel Agents, has now returned home after a very successful factfinding mission to Kenya. The global travel body with over 140 chapters in key countries, is now considering its decision to bring their annual global Destination Expo to Nairobi next year.
ASTA’s President Zane Kerby and ASTA’s Vice President Susan Sheats spent a week in Kenya to scout for locations and check out services, to make an informed decision about the venue next year. While travelers from the US to Kenya presently need to fly either via Europe or one of the Gulf hubs has speculation been growing that the American FAA will grant Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Category 1 status, which would allow for direct flights between Kenya and the United States, shortening travel times considerably. Kenya has of late seen visitor numbers on the rise again after a nearly three year slump and the country’s tourism industry has regained confidence that the upswing will continue and be aided by ASTA coming to the country. ‘Like the ATA Conference last November are such events market catalysts for us. We hosted President Obama and that may be another positive factor for ASTA to consider coming to Kenya. We hosted the Pope and then the WTO Ministerial Conference and we believe that success breeds more success. We had very good publicity from all these events and visits. ASTA is a very influential organization and if they come to Nairobi we will get a lot of mileage out of it’ commented a regular Nairobi based tourism source.
This year’s Destination Expo will be held in Seville / Spain.
