By Hasnain Noorani
Meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions (MICE) tourism has been an essential part of business tourism in Kenya for decades, and its share in the economy is growing each year. The upcoming double-decker road christened “Nairobi Expressway” is set to give Nairobi a major facelift positioning it as the most attractive city in East, Central, and Horn of Africa by reducing travel time from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and Syokimau SGR railway station to the city center and beyond.
This state of the art of transportation facility linking JKIA and Westlands is very crucial in making Nairobi attract quality MICE tourism. It has huge effects on the level of patronage of tourism sites in Nairobi and other destinations outside the city. For MICE to flourish, the country, therefore, needs to continue investing heavily in road infrastructure especially in maintenance, improvement, and construction of new state of art roads. This would, undoubtedly enhance the level of patronage of beautiful tourist sites and have a remarkable contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country considering that through this, Kenya would earn foreign money revenue from international visitors visiting the country as tourists and conference attendees. The economy of the nation will be boosted through the influx of tourists thereby increasing the foreign exchange value, the publicity of the attraction, product, services consumption, and exploitation by the provision of a ready market for local products, goods, and services.
The growth of the MICE industry in Kenya and especially in Nairobi post-Covid-19 depends mainly on patronage. The patronage to our hotels and tourist sites can be enhanced through the provision of a well-maintained and functioning transportation network as well as road network connectivity.
Hospitality industry stakeholders are hopeful that the Nairobi Expressway will address the perennial and costly traffic jams which according to the Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, time wasted in these traffic jams bleeds the city a whopping Sh100 billion every year. Congested roads especially Mombasa Road have been blamed for diverting mega conferences to other destinations in Africa.
A large number of MICE activities take place in capital cities, whereas the business tourist may visit other places if they add on some leisure travel during their visit, the transport network is a key enabler in moving tourists from their place of residence to their final destination and on to various attractions. Transport connects the markets in tourism generating regions to destinations and facilitates the internal movement of visitors between components of the tourist experience for instance attractions, accommodation, commercial services among others. A good road network can be a major element of the attraction or an experience in their own right.
A major objective of government transport policy ought to achieve a coordinated and integrated transport system that is efficient, safe, secure, sustainable, accessible, financially viable, and competitive, and meets both the short and long-term needs of the economy and the community.
Road infrastructure has a remarkable effect on tourism systems, and accessibility is also predicated on good road infrastructure and networks. If the roads are bad, tourists will not be able to have easy access to tourist sites in the destination countries. This will undoubtedly have effects on people whose major source of livelihood is from the jobs and revenue generated as a result of tourism. A good and effective transportation network is also a good marketing strategy for the traveling agencies that facilitate travels and organize tourism activities for individuals and organizations. Good road infrastructure serves as an integral link between transportation, the product of tourism, and the tourism market. The provision of good road infrastructure will enable efficient and effective transportation which is the catalyst factor for the sustainability of the tourism system without which tourism cannot survive.
A respectable road network to the tourist sites is important because the more tourists visit places of interests for purposes of recreation and relaxation, the more revenue is being generated towards tourism growth and development. To this end, sustainable tourism is highly dependent on the provision of assets and amenities required for continuous patronage to tourist sites. More importantly, “transportation is inevitable for effective socioeconomic interaction, cultural integration and overall regional development of the built environment”
The writer is the CEO and Founder of PrideInn Group of Hotels