Kenya launches strategy to align the future of its tourism sector

Nairobi – The Department of Tourism and Wildlife has launched a new strategy aimed at diversifying the country’s tourism offering and breaking away from its reliance on safari and beach tourism.

Dubbed “the new vision for Kenya‘s tourism”, the strategy will provide a roadmap for the sector and shape the future of Kenya’s tourism industry by providing a framework that details how sustainable tourism can be successfully developed in Kenya .

Speaking during Friday’s opening, Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala noted that the strategy is an important part of his ministry’s mission to accelerate the economic transformation of communities by providing solutions and new growth opportunities in the sector to open.

The five-year plan comes against the backdrop of a challenging environment caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and will serve as a blueprint guiding the country’s development efforts in the sector over the next five years.

The strategy calls for promoting Kenya as a multi-product, multi-offer destination to gain a competitive advantage over neighbors and other emerging destinations.

It also aims to diversify tourist flows to Kenya from traditional European and North American markets to emerging markets such as India and China.

CS Balala added that the new strategy reflects the government’s commitment to accelerate economic growth through investments in key sectors such as tourism.

He called on stakeholders in the tourism sector to support the implementation of the document by actively participating in its implementation process.

For her part, PS Foreign Ministry for Tourism Zeinab Hussein says: “We must note that this new strategy goes beyond Covid-19 as we are now looking at a much longer horizon than we had previously planned. This is because we need to position ourselves to take advantage of new trends in tourism. Tourism is a long-term business and requires strategic thinking that looks years into the future. We want to have our finger on the pulse when things change in other parts of the world, we are able to capitalize on those changes.”

With this new strategy, the Ministry of Tourism is counting on increasing international and domestic tourist arrivals, as well as increasing revenue from existing tourists.