KENYA: Kenya Tourism Board Appoints Activ8 Branding Agency To Market Kenya Tourism

Kenya Tourism Board has appointed the South African Activ8 Branding agency as their local in-market representative to further boost their marketing drive in South Africa.

They have a structured plan aimed at capturing more of the South African travellers to experience the various wonders and treasures that destination Kenya has to offer.

An experienced brand agency with extensive industry knowledge, Activ8 Branding aims to strategically collaborate with the travel trade and media to position Kenya as the preferred travel destination for South Africans within the African continent.

'We are really excited about this appointment. Kenya is a magical destination that is relatively undiscovered by South African travellers, and so to work alongside the KTB (Kenya Tourism Board) to build relations with members of the travel trade, media and consumers, is a huge honour for us and we are looking forward to cultivating the awareness and delivering, in this market, the recognition it so rightly deserves' said Mr. Tumaini Leshoai, Director at Activ8 Branding when the announcement was made.

South Africa remains one of the leading tourist sources to Kenya from Africa and is expected to perform even better as efforts to further leverage the relationship with the South African market increase.

Kenya, often described as 'the cradle of mankind’ is known for its ethnic diversity and effervescent culture attracting thousands of South Africans and international tourists on a regular basis, all in pursuit of uncovering the essence of all this beauty.

KTB CEO Dr. Betty Radier further added that 'South Africa is an important market for us and therefore we are pleased to be able to drive the market with some strategic campaigns through our new partnership with Activ8 Branding.

We have ambitious targets that we are certain that can be met by maintaining cognisance of the niche market in which we operate and catering to unique needs of travellers from South Africa. KTB is aligning its efforts towards creating a full awareness about who we are as country, and the myriad of experiences that have on offer for travellers to Kenya'.

In order for Kenya to differentiate itself and maintain a competitive edge among other destinations, KTB will be highlighting three of its most prominent themes including honeymoons, beach life and wildlife, through various, well thought-out, in market activations.

KTB will be participating at this year’s Indaba Travel Trade event in Durban, and will also host a roadshow to equip South African tour operators and travel agents with all the relevant information about Kenya as one of Africa’s prime destinations.

Kenya is relying on the ongoing cricket season in India to market her tourism products and create interest for travel into the country among the Indians.

It is understood that the Kenya Tourism Board has allocated about 25 million Kenya Shillings for the destination marketing and promotional campaigns in partnership with one of the India‘s cricket team, the Rising Pune Super Giants.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the most attended cricket league in the world and ranks sixth among all sports leagues. KTB hopes to benefit from its global broadcast in over 15 countries in the league series that began in April and will run towards the end of May 2017.

While unveiling the new partnership in Pune, India, KTB Chief Executive Officer Dr. Betty Radier in a statement said the campaign was aimed at increasing Kenya’s brand awareness and familiarity among cricket fans in India, given the popularity of the sport.

'We hope that this association with one of the leading teams in IPL will drive consideration for Kenya as a preferred holiday destination among cricket fans in India' said Radier in a statement read on her behalf by KTB regional marketing manager Betty Ichan.

Through partnership with the team, the CEO pointed out, KTB expects to reach over 100 million fans through a series of activations in all communication on offline and online platforms jointly undertaken by tour operators including Thomas Cook and Odyssey Travel.

'We also expect to engage with approximately 5 million consumers through the social media engagements where Indian fans can win a holiday trip to Kenya' added Dr. Betty.

KTB will leverage the partnership with the team for all the brand promotions and activations in social media platforms until 31st August 2017.

India is currently Kenya’s third largest tourist source market with KTB optimistic that engagement with cricket will help in propelling India to achieve number one status in arrivals over the next few years.

The arrival figures from India to Kenya for the close of the year 2016 posted 64,116 visitors up from 49,756 in 2015, indicating a growth of 28.9%.

Dr. Betty Radier also noted that ease of access to Kenya through the national carrier, Kenya Airways, which flies double daily from Mumbai to Nairobi has contributed significantly to the growth of numbers from the market.

Kenya Tourism Board Chief Executive Officer Dr. Betty Radier also hailed the waiver of visa fees for children as a major reason for the sharp rise in arrivals to Kenya from the Indian market.

'Indians do like travelling as families and the visa incentive is paying off. This market has rose from below ten best performing tourist source market to position three after US and UK in that order' said Dr. Betty Radier before concluding: 'This market has all the potential to be the top tourist source market to Kenya and that explains our marketing strategies such as leveraging cricket sport, the most popular to the Indian community among other initiatives'.