Kenya is angling itself as preferred destination for high end Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) with the approval of second State convention center.
The Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Bomas International Convention Centre (BICC) to cement Kenya’s place as a diplomatic and commercial hub.
The ultra-modern convention will feature a conference centre, a Presidential Pavilion and at least five hotels. “This State initiative, fifty years after the groundbreaking of Kenya’s first international convention centre (KICC), is expected to further the growth of conference tourism, hospitality, event and aviation industries as set out in the bottom-up economic transformation agenda (BETA),” reads a memo from the Executive Office of The President.
Kenya has been actively engaged in the MICE sector for decades. Nairobi was named Africa’s leading business travel destination at the World Travel Awards in 2019; Kenya was ranked 5th on the ICCA Africa country ranking for association meetings with Nairobi ranked number five on the city rankings, and Mombasa at 13th in Africa.
The gap in proactive MICE marketing and bidding and general information about the market readiness and available facilities to host meetings has been an inhibitor to growth of the sector.
The competition has also been investing in world-class convention centers. This can be rectified through appropriate product development, packaging, pricing, messaging and marketing to key target markets.
To fast-track the development of Kenya’s MICE industry in a meaningful, sustainable and purposeful way, the Kenya National Convention Bureau (KNCB) has put in place a strategy that define how the MICE industry works and measure its success, staying focused on the higher purpose and transformational impact of MICE on individuals, the business world and Kenya’s communities at large.
If implemented, the establishment of second State Conference Center will boost tourism activities in the country. Kenya’s tourism earnings grew to KES 268.09 billion in 2022 compared to KES 146.51 billion in 2021, indicating a growth of 83 per cent.
The International tourist arrivals were 1483752, representing a 70.45 per cent increase as compared to 2021 arrivals of 870465.
Jomo Kenyatta airport recorded a growth in passengers by 44 per cent growth as compared to 2021. The growth was also recorded in domestic airports such as Kisumu, Malindi, and ukunda indicating a recovery in the aviation sector in both international and domestic travel. The same growth was recorded for domestic travellers to the coast and other tourist regions in the country.
Besides approving the establishment of Bomas International Convention Centre, the cabinet also considered and approved proposal to revive and commercialize the National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK).
Under the proposed turnaround strategy, NOCK will benefit from a partnership that restructures it into three subsidiaries segmented around the petroleum products value chain namely NOC Upstream Limited, NOC Downstream Limited and NOC trading Limited.
The NOC Upstream Limited will focus on exploration and upstream production activities and services, NOC Downstream to major on marketing and distribution of petroleum products while NOC Trading Limited will specialize in holding strategic stocks of petroleum products for import and export.
Kenya’s Tourism Earnings Rise by 83% in 2022 – Kenyan Wallstreet
