Aussie travellers favour Kenyan holiday

The number of Australian’s visiting Kenya has grown in 2016, something the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) welcomes as an indication of a huge step forward for the Kenyan tourism industry.

KTB reported a positive 18.9 percent growth in Australian visitor’s year on year for the first six months of 2016.

KTB representative Bart Druitt said “we are thrilled with the positive visitor figures and feel there is strong potential for even further growth from the Australian market. Aside from being the home of the original safari with some of the best game viewing in the world, what many Aussies don’t realise is that Kenya also has a unique culture, strong conservation initiatives, incredible adventure activities and a broad range of accommodation options.”

The strong growth can be attributed to several factors including improved destination awareness and confidence, increased air capacity with Qatar Airways, continued support and marketing efforts from trade partners and a variety of new tourism initiatives including reduced park fees, the removal of VAT charges on national park entry fees, visa waivers for children under 16 years and the introduction of an online visa system.

DFAT also lowered their travel advice for Nairobi, something Druitt said has “definitely helped.”

Earlier this year KTB also launched an exciting digital consumer campaign, recruiting five Australian digital influencers to experience Kenya, each showcasing one of the destination’s key drawcards: wildlife, adventure, luxury, conservation and culture. The influencers’ captivating imagery, blog posts and video content was gathered together to create a dedicated campaign microsite enticing Aussies to follow their journeys, and enter the competition for a chance to win a Kenyan adventure.

“This campaign was created to highlight each of these offerings to Australians who may be considering a holiday with a difference – Kenya truly is a magical place and through engaging raw content this campaign showcased exactly that,” Druitt said.

Further commitment to the Australian market includes a group of wholesale product managers hosted to Kenya in October to attend the sixth annual Magical Kenya Travel Expo, helping develop the Kenya product available to Australians.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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