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Jacinta Nzioka, National Coordinator for the Kenya National  Convention Bureau talks to Harriet James on her plans to boost business tourism. 

  @harriet86jim

We are a government agency under the ministry of Tourism whose role is to position Kenya’s Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (Mice) industry to remain competitive globally. 

It  was created via Kenya  Gazette notice dated August 31, 2019. I was appointed in October 2019 to head the secretariat further to various deliberations and discussions by the State.

What is the status of Mice the industry? 

Mice sector is a type of travel where a large group of people, usually well planned in advance, comes together and it comprises of meetings, incentives, and conventions.

These are  business travellers. The Mice industry currently controls about 13.5 per cent  of the travel businesses into the country.

This is not such a big growth since five years ago; we were at 12 per cent growth.

Still, Mice has been consistent compared to leisure travels, which is why the State has created this  institution. 

A business traveller spends more and are less sensitive than a leisure traveller. It’s a bit more resilient and not affected by sensitive issues.

Moreover, 49 per cent of business travellers will either come back or extend stay for leisure activities.

Lastly, Mice is a good entry point for a destination and builds leisure travel. 

 What are the trends in  the industry?

There is a new term called b’leasure where travellers desire to do business and still tour the country within their short visit.

We need to train the relevant individuals on having experiences and events that will woe people to come back for leisure.

And in light of climate change, more consumers are paying attention to values such as eco-friendliness in meetings.  Thirdly is the  trend is the use of technology in making the events interactive.

Gone are the days where people make one presentations after another;  the trend is interactive sessions so people share ideas and network. 

What’s your plan to attaining your goals?

We desire to market the country beyond meetings and big conventions. We will also focus on other smaller meetings in counties that make Kenya stand out as a tourist destination.

We want to work on a mid to long-term strategy this financial year, engaging with the private sector in the process.  

We are also  looking at themes such as the United Nation’s SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and State priorities and plans to start our own events and conferences.

For example, marathons are intriguing to the world and many foreigners desire to find out why a particular community is great in athletics.  

What kind of stakeholders are you looking at and how can you  assist them?

We have event organisers, hoteliers, associations (both professional and other sectors) that don’t ever get to host a global event locally, yet they have international associations.

Among these are journalists and doctors. We’ll be able to support associations to bid for such meetings.

The  bureau has a fund to assist in bidding for meetings and whatever specifications they need  to secure the seminars.

Further, we will encourage tour operators to link up with event planners so that they sell tours that can market our country to the business travellers.

We will be collecting feedback from conventions so as to improve in future.