Tourism CS Najib Balala. [Photo/ buzzkenya.com]
Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala has threatened to slash Kenya Tourism Board (KTB)’s marketing budget if the agency does not deliver the desired expectation.
Balala said although the Jubilee administration had been allocating large amounts of cash for marketing to KTB, the country is still getting less value for the money.Speaking at the Diani Reef Beach Resort in Kwale County during the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers (KAHC) conference on Thursday, Balala said the government had apportioned Sh2 billion for marketing tourism in the last two Financial Years.He said since KTB was established in 1997, the marketing agency has been taking part in annual international travel events in the UK and Germany, yet global tourist numbers were still low.Balala said despite the big budget for marketing, the country received a paltry 877,000 oversees visitors in 2016 while Morocco and Egypt had between 10 million and 11 million arrivals each respectively.South Africa, he said, received nine million international tourists while the country’s international arrivals were below one million.“Last year, KTB spent $200,000 (approximately Sh20 million) on participating in the World Travel Market in London. But we are yet to get value for the money which was spent,” he said.“A group of 60 people were taken to London last year for marketing during WTM, yet still we don’t get tourist numbers compared to our competitors. It will not be business as usual. If we don’t see results from the marketing initiatives, I will reduce the budget of KTB.”In a bid to transform the marketing agency, he said the government in December 2016 appointed Betty Radier to spearhead restructuring of KTB.