The Opportunities for Kenyan inbound Tour Operators in Marketing Kenya as a Tourist Destination of Choice for the USA Tourism Market, Nairobi, Kenya.

Abstract

Kenya is a popular tourism destination in Africa which offers abundant tourism resources. However, to Americans who are the world‟s top spenders in outbound international travel, Kenya is still not a popular travel destination. This research sought to identify the opportunities available for inbound tour operators in promoting Kenya as a destination of choice for the United States leisure and travel market. Specifically, it sought to: understand the needs of the USA leisure and travel market; establish the tourism products and activities for the USA tourists; establish how the American travel market access information about destination Kenya, determine the strength/weaknesses of destination Kenya ; and establish the operational marketing strategies by tour operators in the US. Primary data was collected targeting40 respondents from selected inbound tour operators based in Nairobi using questionnaires mainly on 5 point like scaling. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and result presented on tables and charts. The research revealed that: about 24.2% of ITOs targeted the American market and handled about 35.8% tourists; American tourists appreciate abundant tourism resources and quality accommodation; engaged in seeing wildlife, visiting national parks/reserves and safari experience; get their information from company website, travel agencies, brochures and word-of-mouth (scored 5). However, safety and security, and traveling time between Kenya and America (scored 5) were the major obstacles for American tourists into Kenya. In conclusion, Kenya has abundant tourism resources and country do/can delivery travel experiences to American tourists led by safari, unique accommodations and well trained/knowledgeable human resources, and Kenyan Diaspora and social media have great potential to sell and promote Kenya as a destination of choice. It is recommended that; there are lots of opportunities available for ITOs, all they need is to collaboratively put more effort in marketing their products to the American leisure and travel market in order to change/reinforce negative/positive images delivered by international media and some tour wholesalers in America; engage the Kenyan Diaspora and more use of social media to reach more American tourists, and provide accurate information about destination Kenya; engage the government to improve on security and assure American airlines to start direct flights into Nairobi. It is expected that, the results will contribute to academic theory.