Kenya Pursues Direct Flight Links with US to Tap Tourisms Potential

Kenya is pursuing an open air policy with the American government to enable direct flights from the US and Kenya in a bid to encourage more American tourists to visit the country.

Addressing the press in Nairobi on Wednesday, Kenya’s tourism minister, Najib Balala said that there is huge untapped market in America and that the Kenyan government has already formed a working committee with the American embassy in Nairobi to work on the modalities that will realize an open air policy between the two countries.

He said that the working committee will come up with strategies that will help the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) penetrate the American market and find ways of wooing tourists in the country.

Balala said that already the government is upgrading its airport facilities in the country’s capital, Nairobi and the coastal city of Mombassa.

He also revealed that Kenya is planning to spend $ 7 million to market the country in the United States to increase tourist arrivals in the country, following the two months post-election violence earlier in the year that dented the country’s image.

Balala also disclosed that the United Kingdom leads with the number of tourist arrivals in Kenya with 200,000 visiting the country annually, followed by the United States at 100,000 tourists, then Italy with 90,000 tourists and Germany with 80,000 tourists

Source African Press Agency

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