The Cabinet Secretary, Ministry Of Tourism & Wildlife, Hon. Najib Balala, EGH, During Visa’s High-Level Dinner At The Nairobi National Park

Andrew Torre, Regional Visa President for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA), Senior Leadership of Visa-Present, Bank CEOs –Present, Senior Government Officials –Present.

The Minister addressed the delegates with the following:

It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to this exclusive high-level dinner to share insights on the topic, “Digitization of tourism”. I wish to thank the leadership of Visa Card for hosting this dinner and the many other partners who have made it possible.

It is indeed a great privilege to be here tonight when the overall outlook for the tourism sector is optimistic after the havoc caused by Covid-19. These are indeed exciting times for the sector.

An African proverb says: “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” We are gathered here tonight –all the various leaders in different fields- because we would like to walk together and to share ideas on how we can support the tourism sector grow going forward. The sector is a major employer (employs over 2 million) and contributes 10 percent to Kenya’s GDP.

All indications are that this year (2022) we will surpass the best performance we had in the sector in 2019 when we received over 2 million visitors. We are currently operating at between 70-80 percent. But we are optimistic that we will fully recover in 2023/24 season.

To help achieve this projected growth and in tandem with the trends in the sector post-Covid, we recently launched the New Kenya Tourism Strategy which is the roadmap to the new vision for Kenya’s tourism sector going forward. We launched this plan to prepare for the future because we firmly believe in the famous saying that ‘tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.

Four of the strategy’s key components seek to sell the country as a diverse, authentic and sustainable all-year destination. These are:

• Brand; What is Kenya’s value proposition as a destination?
• Marketing; how best do we capitalize on our brand and more effectively target and market our value proposition?
• Experiences; how do we ensure value for money in our in-country offerings that is aligned to our brand promise and our marketing and lastly,
• Enablers; how do we incorporate digitalization across the tourism journey. How do we in particular develop sustainability standards to align with global trends? How do we finance tourism and conservation initiatives?

Digitalization continues to drastically alter the world’s socio-economic culture, particularly in the tourism and travel industries. Kenya has not been left behind in the digital revolution, which has completely altered the way businesses operate currently.

Indeed, I think Covid was both a threat and an opportunity to human adaption and innovation. A threat because of its impact to human health and social disruption but also an opportunity because it allowed the use of Information, Communication, and Technology to thrive globally into levels never experienced before.

The days of stepping into a brick-and-mortar travel agency or thumbing through travel guidebooks are dwindling fast. Many travel companies globally are dismantling geographical barriers and are adopting online methods to approach their clients.

Travel is fundamentally about bringing places and people together. Tourists all over the world now have a host of localized and personalized alternatives for where to stay, what activities to do, and how to get around at their fingertips thanks to mobile phones. Due to advanced technologies, we now have a new and improved tourism industry, and the possibilities for future growth are limitless.

The tourism sector’s strategies have undeniably changed in order to appeal to Generation Z and millennials who are willing to spend more for a better travel experience! Customers in this age group are so used to using the internet in various aspects of life that they consider digital presence to be the most important criterion for evaluating any business. Nowadays, tourists rely on travel websites to find vacation trips or to plan a vacation.

More than 90% of customers look for vacation spots and trips available on the internet, and a significant proportion of these sites will direct you to various online booking sites and applications. One major benefit is that when choosing hotels or airlines, travelers can take into account testimonials and previous experiences of other travelers. You can plan ahead of time by researching and booking from the comfort of your own home.

However, this rapid digitization has greatly affected people from hospitality and service-based sectors like hotel booking and check-in staff and waiters at cafes and restaurants. Some types of jobs and work have become delocalized from the regulation that protects workers’ rights. On one hand, it is making things easier, on the other hand rapid technological advancements are also disruptive as they negatively impact lots of service workers. This is why mature policy discussions with different stakeholders are needed to reach a common ground.

Another big advantage of digitalization is the ability to harvest data and analytics. Consumers want to feel special and expect personalization of service and experience. By capturing data from customers and learning more about their behavioral patterns, companies are increasingly optimizing services across the customer journey.

Digital disruptors like social media, mobile devices, and accessible information enable destination marketers to engage with consumers and stakeholders on a larger scale than ever before. Social networks also allow word of mouth to reach exponentially larger audiences.

With that in mind, there are many opportunities for the private sector to support digitization in tourism. Delivering an end-to-end digital traveler journey requires joint collaboration between public and private stakeholders.

The end-to-end digital traveler experience can revolve around 6 key pillars. Namely; awareness, information, booking, arrival/exit, traveling around, and stay/activities.

To create awareness, private stakeholders can develop digital marketing content to be pushed via Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) or proprietary/paid channels.

The private sector can also provide single access to information and simplify their booking processes.

On matters of arrival/exit, mobile telecom service providers can provide direct local data connectivity to incoming tourists i.e., pre-loaded SIM with data/SMS.

Capitalizing on digitization will also ease traveling around and engaging in activities. For instance, providing wi-fi in not only traveling vehicles but also major tourists hotspots will ensure seamless network connectivity. We can also partner in developing a mobile app that provides recommendations, information on nearby attractions, connection to digitized guided tours, and much more, which will also be available offline.

Banks can also offer digital payment platforms that will ensure a smooth transfer of money. They can partner with digital payment providers to allow travelers to pay using their preferred digital payment apps by connecting them with local payment rails.

And for all this to happen, it will require investment and coordination across countries and sectors.

Thank you and enjoy your evening.

 

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