MAGICAL KENYA TRAVEL EXPO WEEK KICKS OFF WITH GET-TOGETHER DINNER
(Posted 10th October 2015)
Nairobi’s Crowne Plaza Hotel was the venue last night for the launch of the 5th edition of the Magical Kenya Travel Expo. In a record breaking year, showing Kenya’s determination to look forward to better days ahead, did the country’s tourism board bring some 174 hosted buyers and a group of leading international travel trade media from as far as China, Korea, India, the UAE and across the Atlantic from Canada to Nairobi.
Tour operators and specialized travel agents from 39 countries were represented on the night, again a record breaking number, signaling renewed interest in East Africa’s tourism powerhouse and giving rise to a new trend of sustained demand, not only for Kenya but ultimately benefiting the entire Eastern African region.
Many of the attendees were flown to Nairobi by national airline Kenya Airways which only recently had signed a new deal with the Kenya Tourism Board to cooperate even more closely to promote the country – as a beach destination, as a safari destination, as a golfing and sports destination, as a culture and history destination and notably of course also as a MICE destination. The latter will manifest itself again next month when the Africa Travel Association is heading to Nairobi for its 40th anniversary annual congress and then in December when some 9.000 attendees are expected in the capital for the World Trade Organization’s 10th Ministerial Assembly.
The invited buyers and media representatives will in the morning depart for various safari parks to sample all four corners of the country, where they are, as the KTB CEO Muriithi Ndegwa stated in his welcome address ‘… to meet Kenyans and enjoy their famous hospitality’. Of that hospitality they already got a taste last night at the launch cocktail and dinner when the tunes of Kenya’s most famous songs like Malaika and Jambo Bwana filled the Crowne Plaza’s ball room and had people spontaneously swing and dance.
For the first time in the history of the Magical Kenya Travel Expo, which has since its inaugural event in 2011 grown to become the undisputed market leader for regional international tourism trade shows, will MKTE head to the Kenya coast. The now traditional one day travel trade Symposium and the subsequent B2B days are headed to the Leisure Lodge Beach and Golf Resort. Located on what was voted for the second year running as Africa’s best beach, Diani Beach, will delegates be able to sample a broad range of tourism attractions, including marine national parks which extend to the reef line.
Said Wausi Walya, the PR Manager of the Kenya Tourism Board who was seated on this correspondent’s table at the end of the dinner ‘… a perfect start for what will be a perfect week’ during which the country will host the elite of buyers of African safari and beach holidays. For more information click on www.mkte.co.ke or visit two of the key sites for the best information about the country: www.magicalkenya.com / www.kws.go.ke
