Indian travel agents want Kenya to offer incentives to filmmakers and group travellers to increase visitor numbers to the destination. At a travel tradeshow in India organised by the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) and attended by 12 Kenyan travel trade companies, it was disclosed that meeting Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) and filmmakers are the biggest segments Kenya would cash in on to increase its Indian visitor numbers.
Cosmic Safaris Director Chetan Samani said incentives would push more numbers to Kenya. “Filming is a big thing in India and inquiries on MICE are also what we need to leverage to woo this market,” said Chetan. For a while, he pointed out, the increasing interest among Indian filmmakers in shooting locations in the country has been noted. This, he added, was an opportunity for Kenya to enhance top-of-mind awareness of the destination among the Asian community.
Great movies, close to 80 international films have been shot in Kenya in the past with the India Film industry revealing that new film destinations experience an average of 45% increase in arrivals when a top Bollywood film with renowned actors is shot in destinations.
Kenya is currently pitching camp in key cities of Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, and Kolkata ahead of the annual Outbound Travel Mart (OTM) to be held in Mumbai from January 30 to 1 February 2025 at Jio World Convention Center to woo the Asian market. Some of the companies in the roadshow included Neptunes Hotels, Golden Holidays and Travel, Primate Tour, Atua Enkopo Africa, Blue Berry Travel, Safari Trails, Silverbird and Somak Safaris.
Kenya is also relying on the increasing demand for groups and high-end travellers from India to increase the tourism pie from the Asian market which is currently ranked at 6th position as Kenya’s source market.According to KTB CEO June Chepkemei, the market has recorded a tremendous increase in arrivals after the COVID-19 pandemic to post a 12.4 percent growth last year with 106,863 arrivals up from 95,038 visitors recorded in 2023.
Samani said India was promising good tidings with increasing interest for visitors to travel in 2025. He added that though Masai Mara remains a key attraction for the Indians, renewed efforts by KTB and travel partners to showcase diversity in product and experience offerings will bear fruits.
Panari Group Manager expressed his optimism that the marketing programs in the market would further spur groups and MICE segments to consider Kenya amidst competition from other countries. “It is impressive that besides booking through destination marketing companies, groups, and MICE are also booking directly with the hotels who are also open to enhancing visitor experiences through safari tours,” said Asher. The recently launched Magical Kenya Trail Series that was recently flagged off from the Thomson Falls in Nyahuru, he pointed out, has added to the list of experiences the hotels in the region were packaging for clients.
Safari Seekers Africa General Manager, Jazeera Suwani called on Indian travel agents to package Masai Mara tailored holidays off the peak season besides including other destinations to the Mara itinerary.
“We encourage Indian travellers to book in advance for the Mara migration or book off-season to fully get the wildlife experience that Masai Mara and other destinations across the country have to offer,” said Suwani. She added that Indian travellers needed more empowerment in destination knowledge for better engagement with potential travellers to Kenya.
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