NAIROBI: US President Barack Obama’s visit to Kenya for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2015 on July 25-26 could not have come at a better time.
Mr Obama will give Kenya an invaluable seal of approval as a safe and efficient conferencing and business tourism destination.
Coming hot on the heels of the lifting of the British travel advisories and the resounding declaration of many parts of the Kenyan Coast as safe for British tourists, made by outgoing High Commissioner Christian Turner, GES 2015 will be a huge shot in the arm for business tourism.
The Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE) tourism sub-sector punches way above its own weight in numbers. While it is much smaller in numbers than those of the traditional tourists, MICE tourism generates a colossal amount of revenue.
Let me cite but one example: the World Tourism Organisation Conference in December will bring in an estimated 7,000 delegates for a week who will spend upwards of Sh4 billion in that brief interlude.
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GES 2015 will have set the scene for WTO 2015 in a big way. Although GES is a smaller conference, numerically speaking, it will have a huge impact because of President Obama’s “homecoming”.
The world’s eyes will be on Kenya for GES 2015 and there will be many a tour agent and many a tourist who will make the decision to come to a safe, secure, inviting and efficient Kenya based purely on the publicity generated by President Obama’s visit.
I know whereof I speak. As CEO of the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), I have had a front-row seat and seen Kenya become a major conferencing destination. And this has happened even as leisure, non-work-related tourism has taken a nosedive in the face of insecurity and adverse travel advisories.
The KICC has been a member of the International Convention and Congress Association since 2008. The ICCA is a worldwide umbrella body for international congresses and conventions.
President Obama, leader of the world superpower and a son of Kenya, is most welcome to come to the rescue and pitch in to the many efforts being made to revive the tourism sector and to give MICE tourism a flying start.
Kenya has vast potential for MICE tourism. We have tourist attractions and much to spare. Among many other superlative attractions, we have the new Eighth Wonder of the World in the great wildebeest and other plains animals’ migration.
I never tire repeating and reiterating that the Great Migration is the only living wonder of the wonders.
We have a newly rebased economy that takes us to the cusp of middle level economy status, a burgeoning middle class, an expanding tertiary education sector, massive transformative infrastructural expansion and the youth bulge to take advantage of opportunities that are growing exponentially.
When it finally confirmed President Obama’s long-awaited visit, the White House, through Press Secretary Josh Earnest, said in a statement: “His trip will build on the success of the August 2014 US-Africa Leaders’ Summit and continue our efforts to work with countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Kenya, to accelerate economic growth, strengthen democratic institutions, and improve security.”
The benefits of GES 2015 will help Kenyan and other youth right around the world for decades to come.
The MICE delegate makes the ideal tourist, mixing business with pleasure and being fully paid-for. GES 2015 and WTO 2015 will take Kenya a long way in realising its MICE tourism potential.
But much remains to be done and there is a steep learning curve ahead of us, particularly if you consider the ferociously good competition from such well-organised, equipped and manned places as South Africa, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and powerhouse Europe.
MICE tourism can contribute immensely to GDP growth and underwrite Kenya’s new-found status as a mid-level economy. If we remain focused, creative and innovative, we will easily be among the best in Africa as a destination for both business and leisure tourism.
Our roadmap remains the National Meetings, Incentive Travel Conferences and Exhibitions Strategy.
