Kenyan tour operators are now joining Chinese social media sites en masse in search of tourists from the East Asian nation as players in the sector tap new strategies to grow arrivals.
The targeting of Chinese tourists in their social media is part of the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) strategic plan 2021-2025. Popular social sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are not available in the country.
Some of the popular platforms that Kenyan businesses are now using include WeChat, Mafengwo, Weibo, and Douyin which players in the market hope will help reach more people in the populous nation.
Kenya received 8,000 Chinese tourists in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 6,000 in the same period last year. Overall, Kenya received 55,488 tourists from China in 2022.
A KTB report titled New Tourism Strategy for Kenya 2021-2025, ranked China as an emerging market with a 7 per cent share of annual tourism revenue, but with a 60 per cent growth potential.
According to KTB Chief Executive John Chirchir, the country expects to reach more tourists by marketing through travel agents and partnerships with airlines and tour operators.
KTB is targeting wealthy Chinese who would like to visit Kenya, as the agency ramps up it marketing campaigns.
"(We) focus on segments combining the highest discretionary spend and appetite for Kenya: sophisticated travellers, wealthy parents with children, elite young professionals," the report says.
"Build partnerships with most relevant distribution partners (e.g., WeChat, luxury agencies) and work closely with local communication agency (e.g., Dragon Trail) to push tailored marketing content through social media / other relevant channels."
Recovering Chinese Numbers
The number of Chinese nationals travelling to Kenya steadily rose from 2014 to 2019, crossing over the 80,000 mark. The figure, however, dropped sharply in 2020 and 2021 due to a ban on cross-border travel due to the pandemic.
In 2022, the number of travellers rebounded to slightly over 55,000, expected to grow by the end of 2023.
Last year, the country realised Ksh299 billion in revenues after a surge in tourists, with a projected increase to Ksh425 billion by the end of the year.
The US and the United Kingdom remain Kenya's leading sources of tourists, with the government slated to tailor-make marketing campaigns targeting high-spenders in the two economies.
Mobile Applications
Kenyans are drawn to WeChat, the Chinese equivalent of Whatsapp, after mobile money was added to the application as a mode of payment, easing the acquisition of stocks and rendering of services.
Mafengwo, on the other hand, is beloved by younger Chinese netizens and provides long-form tourism-focused content, while Weibo, Twitter's main competitor, boasts over 573 million monthly users. Douyin is China's equivalent of TikTok owned by ByteDance.
