Bungoma, Busia counties now kick off Tourism collaboration activities with KTB

KTB Product Manager Fred Okeyo (left) hands a present to Bungoma county Governor Keneth Lusaka. Looking is county executive member in charge of tourism. KTB team was on a tourism familiarization tour of the county.

The Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) has begun county engagement programmes of identifying tourism sites to enable them carve out their individual market niche.

Top on the list of engagement list of priorities among others is product identification, development, packaging and marketing.

Last month KTB led by Product Manager Fred Okeyo kicked off the engagement exercise with Bungoma and Busia counties in the Western part of Kenya.

The new initiative between KTB and county governments would open up new tourism frontiers in line with the Board’s strategy to diversify tourism products.

A perfect sunset view atop mwibale rock

Okeyo said KTB’s central role remained marketing of the country’s tourism attractions and the development of new horizons through new destinations in the counties particularly those with unique attractions would boost the product diversification portfolio.

Bungoma and Busia have welcomed the collaboration as timely as they counties embark on identifying their unique tourism attraction features.

A tour guide at the apex of mwibale rock in Bungoma county . The rock whose circumference is 25 kilometers attracts both local and international tourists

According to Bungoma Governor Mr. Keneth Lusaka, among his priority areas, his government is investing heavily on road infrastructure to open up Mt Elgon a major tourist attraction to the region.

Air transport
He said, he has written to the Kenya Airports Authority to finance the upgrading of the Webuye airstrip to handle heavy aircrafts and thereby easy access to the tourism facilities in the county.

Besides Webuye, the county has airstrips at Bungoma Town and Nzoia Sugar Company premises along with a golf course that could be used to promote sports tourism.

Balancing act: Residents cross over one of the locally made footbridge in Bungoma.

The county government is also investing in a high altitude athletics training centre in Mt Elgon that would be a further boon to tourism fortunes in the western circuit.

Lusaka explained that the government was also reclaiming historical and cultural sites for rehabilitation and development into tourism and cultural heritages sites with amenities nearby to cater for visitors.

Busia county executive member in charge of tourism Mr. Hillary Makhulu says apart from the sceneries such as caves, the county will focus on developing agri-tourism products.

“A 5 star hotel in the port of Victoria will also be set up and will be a major boost in terms of providing high standard accommodation  in the county,” said Makhulu.

KTB’s helping hand
Counties whose tourism potential has not been explored require the following expertise from KTB
Product mapping
This involves graphical representation of the ways people perceive products in terms of their underlying attributes. This will go a long way in understanding their preferences.
This involves   Identifying and mapping of attractions and other facilities within the counties ‘;

Product development
This means creation of products with new or different characteristics that offer new or additional benefits to the customer.
Product development may involve modification of an existing product or its presentation, or formulation of an entirely new product that satisfies a newly defined customer want or market niche.
Respective counties are owners of different tourism products. Some products are not fully developed for the purposes of marketing.

Products audit
This will involve and not limited to the review of quality and set standards of the product offerings. The audit will pave the way for possible improvement or product enhancement to suit the dynamic needs of the clients.

Product branding and packaging
Tourism products should be packaged ready for sharing out/marketing to the targeted clients. This is through the development of brochures, e-bulletins, and websites among other marketing platforms.

Marketing support

One of the sceneries in Bungoma county

Besides KTB mandate of marketing, individual facilities or properties have been doing their own marketing to supplement this effort. To support the counties, KTB will give free marketing via destination website, joint publicity campaigns, production of publicity materials among other platforms.

KTB will identify specific markets for specific products and advise the counties in respective markets to tap into.
KTB will share its expertise with regards to market trends, preferences and needs of the clients. This will thus guide strategic and targeted marketing.