The Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife has unveiled nine tourism circuits covering all the 47 counties to showcase the country’s hidden gems as the drive to reposition the sector as a key economic driver gains momentum.
Through a campaign dubbed Tembea Kenya, the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) plans to aggressively market the nine tourism circuits targeting both domestic and international tourists.
The nine tourism circuits span different regions: the Nairobi Circuit, Central Kenya Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Northern Circuit, Western Circuit, Southern Circuit, North Rift Circuit, South Rift Circuit, and Eastern Circuit.
KTB through the campaign targets to promote little-known destinations across the nine circuits to attract up to five million visitors tourists annually by the year 2027.
Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife Rebecca Miano who unveiled the campaign in Kisumu over the weekend as part of UN World Tourism Day celebrations asked the youth to take charge of the campaign which she said has potential for creating numerous job opportunities.
This she said, will see all the country’s magical scenes captured on camera and shared online to encourage both domestic and international tourists to visit.
“I want to ask our youths to take advantage and promote their locations. From wherever you are in the country just capture the key attractions and share so that other people can know about them,” she said.
This, she said would transform Kenya into an unparalleled destination calling on all players in the sector to actively participate in marketing the nine tourism circuits.
“We have an endowed country but at the moment Kenya is punching below its weight. Let us make this campaign a turning point so that we elevate our tourism to the befitting level,” he said.
Speaking during the same occasion, Council of Governors (COG) Tourism Committee Chairman Patrick Ole Ntutu said the campaign which has the full backing of the council was set to elevate the country’s tourism sector to shore up revenues.
Photos By Chris Mahandara
Ntutu who is also the governor for Narok County said the devolved units have a lot to showcase but very little has been done to market the destinations.
“Traditionally we have been marketing wildlife and the beaches yet the country has a lot more to offer. As a result tourists come to Narok for three days for example just to witness the wildebeest migrations and go back,” he said.
With proper development of the other products and attractions, he said the country was likely to retain the visitors for longer to sample different destinations.
Ntutu said COG has directed all the county government to develop at least one product which is unique and aggressively market it to attract tourists.
This, he added called for enhanced allocations to the sector to help in the development of the new products and marketing.
“If you want a product to be good and sell to international tourists you must invest and tell the story properly,” he said.
By Chris Mahandara
