By MKT Reporter
County Executive Committee Member for Trade, Tourism, and Cooperatives, Stephen Kuria, has announced the establishment of the Nakuru County Tourism Board to enhance Nakuru’s visibility in the global tourism market.
The board will focus on marketing aspects of tourism products that have not been marketed in Nakuru, such as the Menengai Crater, Hyrax Hill Museum, and Kariandusi prehistoric site.
“There are aspects of tourism in Nakuru that have not been marketed, and these are the ones we are seeking to leverage on to attract more visitors to the tourist town,” he said.
The Nakuru County Tourist and Marketing Act provides a comprehensive legal framework for the development, management, marketing, and regulation of sustainable tourism in the county.
“We have begun paying attention to marketing in particular because that is the persuasive element of the strategy.
It is marketing that will get us our rightful consideration among potential tourists and help us realise our rightful numbers,” said Kuria.
The board will market Nakuru at national, regional, and international levels as a premier tourism and filming destination, identify market needs, advise tourism stakeholders on market trends, recommend culturally, archaeologically, and ecologically sensitive tourism areas for gazettement, establish and develop county tourist health facilities, and promote water sports and big game fishing activities.
Kuria believes that globalisation has increased competition in Kenya’s tourism sector, and the board must exploit this potential for devolution.
The CECM noted that both the national and county governments have ensured adequate security and developed infrastructure to promote tourism.
NaxCity Kenya CEO Ms. Catherine Kanyi highlighted the need for innovation and change in marketing strategy for the development of the tourism sector, emphasising the importance of promoting intra-Africa tourism and focusing on the rich potential of the region.
“There are countries in Africa that attract up to seven times the number of tourists as we do with fewer and less stunning attractions than we have,” she said.
“We also need to start thinking about promoting intra-African tourism. Africa has a population of about 1.2 billion people but only receives 62 million tourists, which is disappointing,” Ms. Kanyi pointed out.
