MKTE 2024: Kenya on global spotlight for tourism, travels

With over 4, 000 delegates, 180 international buyers, 471 exhibitors from 35 countries and a score of international and local media, Magical Kenya Travel Expo truly lived up to expectations this year.

It also drew participation from six tourism boards, nine county governments, while the increased number of international buyers signaled the relevance of the expo in the global travel landscape.

Of the 180 international buyers that graced the 14th edition of the expo; 75 came from Africa, 37 from North America, 26 from Europe, and 42 from Asia and the Middle East.

The above feats are top among the reasons Kenya, as a country, Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, and most especially, Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), are all celebrating the successful outing this year.

Confirming the above, June Chepkemei, CEO, Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), excitedly told the international media on the last day of the three-day expo that this year’s expo was “the most successful to date, compared to the ones that we have held over the past 13 years. This is due to the quality of delegates that we have seen in this year’s expo”.

It is most probable that the Uhuru Gardens, Nairobi, which hosted the travel expo, for the first time, from October 2-4, 2024, was the magic or the relentless efforts of the Ministry and KTB staff members before and during the expo.

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Well, both worked, including the presence of William Samoei Ruto, president of the Republic of Kenya, who graced the occasion with some of his cabinet members, diplomats, among other high profile personalities.

Truly, Mr. President spiced the colourful opening ceremony of the expo as the chief host, and most importantly, the chief marketing officer of Kenya tourism. Standing on the podium, all President Ruto did was to show the participants more reasons to visit his country, reasons to seek investment partnerships and reasons to collaborate rather than compete.

He talked about some of the policies of his government that are intended to enable Kenya to increase international tourist arrivals and tourism infrastructure development, among others.

He also offered the global travel trade some incentives, which are part of the highlights of this year’s edition.

The incentives included; Digital Nomad Work Permit and the Transit and Long Connection Travelers Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA), among others, which were launched at the travel expo by President William Ruto during his speech at the official opening of MKTE 2024.

The informed president also offered an update on Kenyan tourism data and revenue expectations.

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“Tourism is fundamental to Kenya’s economy, contributing significantly to employment, foreign exchange, infrastructure development, and hospitality growth. By the end of 2023, Kenya welcomed over 2 million visitors, generating Ksh 352 billion in revenue, a clear indicator of our global appeal.

“Our target is to attract 5 million visitors annually by 2027. Achieving this requires concerted efforts from all players in the sector to position Kenya as a must-visit destination,” President Ruto disclosed.

In her remarks at the opening ceremony, Rebecca Miano, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, noted that the Digital Nomad Work Permit and the Transit and Long Connection Travelers Electronic Travel Authorisation are welcome development as they would enable travellers in transit to step out and explore the city of Nairobi from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

“These visitors will be truly immersed in the magic of Kenya and encouraged to return to the country,” she noted excitedly.

But while the numbers are impressive this year, Chepkemei, who this edition is her first hosting of the Magical Kenya Travel Expo as the KTB CEO, noted that the feat is not all about the numbers.

In addition to the impressive turnout of participants, the new KTB CEO insisted that establishing strong and mutually beneficial relationships with buyers, sellers, policymakers and media is key to sustaining the feats.

Earlier, she exposed the attendees to the objective of the expo saying, ‘‘It is to showcase Kenya as a premier travel destination, providing a platform for tourism stakeholders to network, promote Kenyan tourism products, and engage with international buyers and media to boost tourism to the country”.

The youthful Chepkemei also described the travel expo as an ideal platform for B2B meetings between leading African products and top-producing global buyers, whilst providing an opportunity for local exhibitors to benefit from the cost-effective promotional platform to generate new business through interacting with international trade.

‘‘The MKTE allows enhanced networking between the business entities in the county and buyers from across many countries thus cutting the cost for travel from one country to another. The expo provides an opportunity to access a gathering of the region’s tourism leaders, policy makers, leading tourism products, global buyers, and media,” the KTB CEO explained further.

From the exhibitors’ corner, it has been positive feedback as most of them are counting their gains already.

Zena Mshana, a Tanzanian and CEO, Yourholidayabroad, and exhibitor, commended MKTE 2024 for offering her company networking opportunities, amid deals sealed for collaboration with a few industry players in West Africa, Asia and South Africa.

“My company is looking to expand into other regions apart from East Africa and I have been able to kick start that process with a few partners in West and Southern Africa, as well as in Malaysia, all from the MKTE platform,” Mshana said.

Kemanti Ndlovo, an exhibitor from Johannesburg, South Africa, is impressed with the result-oriented B2B platform of the travel expo.

“With over 50 meetings, you cannot participate in Magical Kenya and do not gain anything. The networking, exposure and product offerings are wonderful,” Ndlovo said.

Ikechi Uko, CEO, Akwaaba Africa Travel Market, the biggest travel expo in West Africa, was also excited at the rich programme line-up, impressive participation and networking opportunity the MKTE 2024 offered.

Nicanor Sabula, CEO, Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA), also described the expo as a very successful outing considering the quality of the exhibitors.

‘‘It has been a huge opportunity for us to market our country and to create connections between our local travel trade and international travel trade.

We also had great engagements with the invited travel international media,” Sabula said.

Kenya Airways had a swell day for the three days, registering new members in its reward system, revalidating old ones and exposing them to other benefits and seamless products.

Many companies also used the expo platform to launch their products, especially AirAsia X, which launched its first direct flight to Nairobi starting from November 15, 2024.

With the 2024 edition successfully wrapped, participants, exhibitors, international media and industry stakeholders look forward to a more exciting 2025 edition, while the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, KTB and the entire people of Kenya are back to preparation for the mother of all travel expos in 2025.