Kenya shifts focus to digital media marketing to drive tourism
Kenya is set to make a major change in the way it markets its tourism products, by shifting from the traditional television and print media to digital and social media.
Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) on Thursday hosted a webinar that brought together sectoral players to discuss the importance and gains that would be accrued, by utilising the digital space to market destinations, according to a report by The Star.
Players said the use of social media marketing is overdue and has been reinforced by how COVID-19 has disrupted the tourism industry in the last three months.
Betty Radier, chief executive officer of the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) said the industry is taking advantage of social media to prepare for easing COVID-19 restrictions to enable visitors to identify their destinations early enough, according to news agency Xinhua.
“With social media, all people working in the tourism and conservation industry have an opportunity to market the industry. We have advised the industry to go for live content rather than static,” she said during the webinar.
Damian Cook, managing director of E-Tourism Frontiers, a global initiative to develop online tourism, said a key win is in showing live content about the experiences of being in a certain destination, including activities that are possible there and showing human interest stories related to those destinations. He said across Africa, filmmakers and wildlife photographers are also joining the movement to create content for future use and films for distribution to the world, Xinhua reported.
Already, a virtual live stream campaign has been launched to showcase safaris in some of the parks and reserves across the country. The two-month long live-streaming campaign will spread to Laikipia, Samburu, Mt Kenya, Aberdares, Amboseli, Tsavo East and West, Chyulu Hills, Masai Mara and Watamu.
Kenya Tourism Fund (KTF) chairman Mohammed Hersi encouraged the tourism trade partners to utilise online and digital space with an aim of showcasing their offering to the world, and also creating confidence that they are taking care of the destination.
Tourism is Kenya’s second-largest foreign exchange earner after diaspora remittances, grossing over 164 billion shillings in 2019 (about 1.54 billion US dollars), drawing in 2.05 million visitors.
