The Magical Kenya Expo (MKTE) 2022 has resumed physically after a two-year hiatus. This year’s Expo has attracted participants from around 35 countries across the globe. The ongoing three-day Expo between October 5-7, 2022, brings together 225 exhibitors, 160 hosted buyers, and over 20 hosted media, among other industry partners from some of Kenya’s key source markets in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
The event is important to the Kenya Tourism industry as it brings together domestic, regional, and international tour operators, travel agents, destination agencies, and various other tourism trade players to network and facilitate the tourism business. The Expo, the largest in the East and Central African region, comes at an important time when the Kenya Tourism Board is also building on its efforts to restore the tourism industry, which has suffered due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Expo, hosted at the Bomas of Kenya, will highlight the diversity and richness of Kenya’s tourism industry.
Betty Radier, CEO, Kenya Tourism Board, said, “To keep pace with the fast-changing needs of visitors and challenges faced by the tourism industry, the industry has to act swiftly and adjust its strategies for tourism development from time to time. The learnings we shall pick from this expo will be invaluable as we work towards building the sector now and in the future.”
Before the event, KTB also hosted FAM trips for the hosted buyers and the media to destinations like Masai Mara, Shaba National Park, Nakuru Lake, and many other places to showcase the experiential and readiness of the destinations. On October 4, the Expo was inaugurated with a grand opening night at the Bomas of Kenya, which included cocktails and networking, followed by a high tempo of authentic and traditional Kenyan songs and dances and inspiring fashion shows.
On October 5, Najib Balala, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, launched the Magical Kenya Travel Expo (MKTE) 2022. During the press meet, Balala said that Kenya is now looking beyond the traditional offerings of game drives and beach experiences that the country is famed for and wanted to give tourists more options in visiting Kenya with adventures such as mountaineering, hiking, rafting, cycling, etc. He stressed the need for an open sky policy for tourism to grow in Africa as airlines contribute to more than 50 per cent of arrivals. To boost tourism, Balala spoke that all of Africa should come together and work towards improving its security and infrastructures, avoid negative publicity and promote the continent positively. He also spoke of the requirement of digitilisation, sustainability, and investment to make the destination move forward in tourism.
Besides the B2B meetings and interactions, the event also has interesting seminars such as ‘Airline and Access,’ ‘Sustainability and Inclusive Tourism,’ ‘E-travel,’ and ‘The Future of Tourism and Resilience. This year, Mastercard is the sponsor of MKTE 2022, and they will also participate in the many sessions. The Ministry of Tourism has also partnered with Netflix to encourage the film industry to sell Kenya’s tourist attractions and destinations.
 2022 has resumed physically after a two-year hiatus. This year’s Expo has attracted participants from around 35 countries across the globe. The ongoing three-day expo hosted at the 'Bomas of Kenya' between Oct 5-7, 2022 brings together 225 exhibitors, 160 hosted buyers and 20 hosted media among other industry partners from some of Kenya’s key source markets in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas.){kind=link}