From left – Colette Taylor Director Tourism Business Company, Jacinta Nzioka National Coordinator Kenya National Convention Bureau and Rick Taylor CEO Tourism Business Company. The two are consultants engaged by KNCB to draft the situation analysis and Mice blueprint for the next 10 years.
26th November 2020, Nairobi, Kenya – Kenya National Convention Bureau (KNCB) is the Government entity with the mandate to market Kenya as a top Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Events and Exhibitions (MICE) destination in Africa, and to secure future meetings to Kenya.
In fulfilment of the mandate of the Kenya National Convention Bureau (KNCB) secretariat, as outlined in Gazette Notice 7263 of 31st August 2019, and in recognition of the need to rise to the challenges of the ever changing global MICE marketplace, KNCB has developed the Blueprint 2030 that aligns with the Government’s National Development Plan 2030 and the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife’s National Tourism Blueprint 2030 strategic principles and vision for tourism i.e. sustainability, transformation, partnerships, geographic spread, skills development, enterprise and effective knowledge management, whilst at the same time making reference to global industry perceptions of the COVID-19 cognizant changed marketplace.
Maximizing the socio-economic benefits of MICE tourism requires governance and strategic partnership collaboration between public and private sector stakeholders to create an enabling environment for MICE. KNCB is the catalyst for the MICE industry whilst hotels and venues, Professional Conference Organizers, Associations, Destination Management Companies and suppliers, play a crucial role in delivering international best practice standard events.
During a MICE stakeholder event hosted by KNCB on Thursday, 26th November 2020 at the Sarit Expo Centre, Nairobi, KNCB’s Blueprint 2030 was presented to industry players, addressing the four key building blocks that will support elevating the country’s position in the global sector; these are Building Industry Competitiveness, Strengthening Stakeholder Partnerships, Accelerating Growth and Increasing the Socio-Economic Benefits of the sector into Kenya’s communities.
“The goal of the stakeholder forum was to align the MICE industry stakeholders with our business Blueprint, and present the framework and roadmap for improving stakeholder support around a shared vision.” said Ms. Jacinta Nzioka, the KNCB National Coordinator
Attendees represented various key MICE Industry Captains such as:
KICC (recently recognized as Africa’s leading Meetings & Conference Centre 2020), Nairobi City County Government, that is working to leverage on the recent recognition as Africa’s Leading Business Travel Destination 2020 at the World Travel Awards, EMAK (Event Managers Association of Kenya) Chair, and global business hotel brands such as the Radisson and Movenpick among others.
The Business Tourism Company (TBTC) from South Africa is supporting KNCB in the development of its ambitious roadmap. Rick Taylor, TBTC’s CEO with over 20 years’ experience in the MICE industry, was the architect behind Africa’s first Convention Bureau (Cape Town Convention Bureau) and more recently established the Rwanda Convention Bureau amongst several others across the Continent and beyond.