JAMBOJET’S DIANI ADVERT RUFFLES MORE THAN A FEW FEATHERS
(Posted 08th May 2015)
When Jambojet sent out their latest mailing yesterday, aimed at the upcoming Mother’s Day, and wrote:
‘Your mom deserves an unforgettable experience
Fly her to any of our 7 destinations at an affordable price
Eldoret / Kisumu and Mombasa starting from 2,950/- Malindi and Ukunda from 4,950/- Lamu from 5,950/- Book now!‘
it did not take long for mails and messages to arrive with Diani resorts and residents expressing their keen desire to know where the beach shown in the advert was actually located, as no one of those dozens contacting this correspondent were able to recall where exactly this beach was along Diani.
‘We all know what our award winning Diani beach looks like. We all know it because we have taken dozens of pictures and posted them on social media and supported the various campaigns. We know because we live here and work here. Can Jambojet please explain where this beach is and why they have not used pictures of the real Diani beaches’ wrote a regular contributor from Diani while others equally questioned the picture used.
An effort was made to obtain an answer from the airline and their advertising agency Redhouse and as and when a response is received it will be posted here.
Meanwhile was the announcement welcomed of course, though as mentioned with a pound of salt rather than a grain that the airline now flies twice a day from Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the Ukunda airfield. In the same advert was it also shown that flights to Kisumu were upped from double daily to 16 a week adding choices for passengers destined to Kenya’s lakeside city.
Suggestions were also made from a number of regular contributors that in particular for international passengers arriving on Kenya Airways the Jambojet flights should become properly codeshared so that baggage from international flights can be transferred on to Jambojet flights to the Kenya coast without incurring the penalties on checked baggage ordinarily in place for local passengers, both on weight and on checked bags per se. Said a Nairobi based travel agent in response to a question asked: ‘It is something Kenya Airways should insist on. They are keen to promote the Kenya coast. They should make it simple for international passengers to connect to say Ukunda or Lamu with their subsidiary airline. First there should be a through ticket and then should KQ’s international baggage rules apply. Otherwise, first thing to happen is tourists get totally frustrated when they check in and then have to pay checked baggage fees and wonder what hit them. In fact I have seen a few dramas at check in when passengers have to race against the clock to pay for extra charges on baggage and still make it for their flight, and by the look of it not always succeed’.
Happy Mother’s Day it is and happy hunting too for the true location of the beach picture used by the airline’s advertising agency and suggestions are of course welcome as this correspondent, and by now just over a hundred Diani readers who raised the question, are keen to get to the bottom of this.
