By koreatimes.co.kr
Published March 3, 2014

korean-air-lines-DIRECT-flights-to-kenyaKenya Tourist Board and the Embassy of Kenya in South Korea have on February 26 and 27, 2014 hosted a tourism promotion event in Seoul and Busan, respectively.

The event was designed to attract more Korean tourists to the African nation by building networks between Kenyan tour agencies and Korean tour organisations.

During a speech to the Magical Kenya Road Show at Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Ambassador Ngovi Kitau vowed to work hard to achieve his government’s goal to attract three million tourists by 2017.

“The government of Kenya has identified Korea as one of the key markets in Asia that will contribute towards our target of 3 million visitors by 2017,” he said.

The envoy stressed that Kenya is a safe tourist destination. “The government of Kenya is committed to protecting its citizens and visitors against any negative occurrences. In this regard, there is enhanced security at airports, tourist facilities and all other public areas as a priority for the Kenyan government.”

korean airSeven companies from Kenya’s tourism industry joined the tour promotion event in South Korea.

KTB managing director, Muriithi Ndegwa, said Kenya’s reputation as a tourism destination has risen recently as it was voted the world’s leading safari destination by the World Travel Awards 2013.

korea-kenya-flags“Korea has the potential to boost tourism numbers in Kenya as it is joining the league of emerging markets that we are very keen on, and we have put efforts into wooing more travellers,”he said.

The number of Korean tourists to the African country has sharply grown in recent years.

According to the embassy, 7,351 Koreans travelled to Kenya in 2011 and the figure rose to 9,422 in 2012.

KTB attributes the non-stop Korean Air flights from Seoul to Nairobi as one of the driving forces behind the increasing numbers of tourists to the East African country of 41 million.