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China-Africa Trade Information Service
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China-Africa Trade Information Service
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Known for its spectacular wildebeest migration, national parks and pristine beaches, Kenya is a famous destination for travel and leisure. Obviously, the country's hospitality industry has made great progress. According to the World Bank, Kenya's economy will rank among the top five in sub-Saharan Africa, with an average growth rate of 6-7% expected over the next three years.
Kenya's focus is slowly shifting to target the corporate travel market in order to match international guest expectations. According to statistics from Jumia Travel, a major hospitality brand, Kenya's hospitality industry contributes an average of 10% to the country's GDP, which is higher than the continent's average of 8.1%. It's worth mentioning that the travel and hospitality sector in Kenya is the country's second foreign exchange earner after agriculture.
In 2015, conference tourism rose from 12% to 15.6%. Because of the steep competition, hotels have put in a lot of effort to ensure the needs of both business and leisure travellers are well catered to. In addition, many local and international restaurants continue to be opened in Nairobi and other major cities throughout Kenya. The country has also hosted major hospitality conferences, which have played a major role in boosting Kenya's hospitality standards.
Nairobi is the region's leading business and investment hub, and for this reason, there are a number of international hotel chains that have set up across the city. Some of the top global hospitality brands operating in Nairobi include Villa Rosa Kempinski, Radisson Blu, Royal Tulip, Best Western, Swiss International, Golden Tulip, and Hilton Garden Inn among many others. With these new developments, Nairobi and Kenya are now prominent features on the global hospitality map. The hotel chains that opened in 2016 alone have further increased the bed capacity by over 2,000.
Preferred Conferencing Destination
Aside from Kenya being centrally positioned on the continent, it is considered an excellent conferencing location. Many stakeholders including corporate, NGOs, and intergovernmental organizations have held various high-profile international conferences and forums in Kenya. In July 2015, Nairobi was put on the global map when it hosted the Global Entrepreneurship Summit Forum, opened by the then U.S. President, Barack Obama.
Other high-powered conferences that have been held in Kenya include the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Nairobi during December 2015. Major global conferences which Nairobi has hosted include United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICADVI), Africa, Caribbean, and the Pacific Parliamentary Assemblies meeting, as well as the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF).
Presently, there is immense potential in the conference tourism sector that needs to be tapped into. Besides Nairobi, there are other major cities in Kenya such as Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu, and Eldoret, which offer great investment opportunities for hospitality service providers interested in conference tourism.
Nairobi is the only city in the world with a major National Park within its vicinity: The Nairobi National Park. This means that guests who are attending conferences in the city can easily get to the National Park, as well as sample other tourist attractions located close to the city. One of the other major attractions close to Nairobi is the world-renowned Maasai Mara Game Reserve, which is a 3 hour drive from Nairobi. It is famous for the annual wildebeest migration, and was once named one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Other top conference destinations on the Kenyan coast, such as Mombasa, are also located close to the country's top beach attractions and national parks.
