Qatar Airways is in a plan to partner with local authorities to ensure that tourists from the Gulf region make their way into the country.This partnership is aimed towards increasing the number of foreign visitors coming into the country.
Speaking during a meeting with Qatar Airways Vice President Ali Al Rais, Minister for Tourism, Dan Mwazo said that Kenya needs to embrace partnership in order to eradicate hurdles in the tourism Industry.
The sector managed to generate KES 98 billion last year despite the state of insecurity caused by pirates and extremists in the region. Foreign passengers arriving by air stood at 1.26 million in 2011. In spite the positive results, a report by the Mombasa and Coast Tourism Association states that no foreign visitors have arrived on Kenya’s coast via cruise ship this year. Last year, more than 500 tourists used water-based transport to reach the country’s coast during the first quarter of 2011. The government has since beefed up security in the region in a bid to rectify the situation.
A projected 1.8 million visitors are expected to visit Nairobi in 2012, injecting an estimated USD 1.5 billion into the city’s economy.
Qatar Airways operates in 14 cities across Africa including Algiers, Cairo and Alexandria. The Ministry believes that the joint venture will boost the industry’s revenue. Rais has appealed to Kenya Airways to partner with other potential airline services in order to promote competition and improve the quality of its services. He believes that doing so will also boost the amount of revenue generated from the tourism industry.