Kenya eyes increasing Chinese high-yield tourists

The Kenya Tourism Board is seeking to attract high-yield tourist arrivals from Chinese big cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, officials said on Monday. "Using findings from an in-depth engagement with Chinese travel agencies, media as well as local travel partners, we have uncovered new insights on China's tourism trends that inform how we package our destination products and experiences to offer travelers more specialized and personalized experiences," Betty Addero Radier, chief executive officer of KTB said in statement. Last week in China, KTB organized the Kenya Trade Forum road show themed "Adventure Tour" that was attended by over 110 traders from key online travel agents including Ctrip.com, LY.com, and Tuniu and key traditional travel agencies and tailor-made travel agencies. Radier said that the aim of the forum was to demystify the Chinese travel market perspective that Kenya is a seasonal safari destination and instead position Kenya as an 'all year magic' destination through intensive product training sessions to the Chinese travel agencies. Radier revealed that the number of inbound Chinese tourists is projected to increase from initiatives such as the direct link between the city of Changsha and Nairobi by one of China's biggest airlines, the China Southern Airlines, who announced the deployment of its 330-200 Airbus twice per week to and from Changsha, with non-stop flights between Nairobi and Guangzhou on Monday and Friday.