Business Daily (Nairobi)
Beatrice Gachenge
14 September 2009
Kenya Airways is counting on increased tourism in Africa to shore up its revenues in the face of shrinking traditional European markets as a result of the slowdown of the global economy.
The national carrier has moved to bolster its presence in the Seychelles in a pact that will see the two countries market tourism through a twin destination concept.
In the pact, the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) in collaboration with the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) and their respective travel agents will market the two countries as a package.
This will, for example, see tourists offered Kenya's Safari experience and the Seychelles island beaches as a package. The airline plans to ride on the concept by carrying passengers in transit from other destinations to Mahe, the Seychelles, and vice versa.
The move comes only months after Kenya Airways signed a deal with KTB and other Kenyan sectors such as hoteliers and the media to grow arrivals from African countries to boost tourism and increase the airline's revenues.
"The major reason for this arrangement is to increase passenger numbers. We hope to increase by 14 per cent, once the concept gets rolling," said Kenya Airways commercial director, Mohan Chandra, of the travel to Seychelles.
The airline currently operates two flights with an estimated 75 travellers per flight.
However, Mr Chandra said there were no immediate plans to add another flight to Mahe. The airline has seen the number of passengers both within Africa and beyond reduce as potential travellers are affected by the financial crisis that has seen a drop in passenger numbers.
Coupled with high oil prices which persisted for the better part of 2008, airlines the world over have been making losses while others have gone bust. For the year ending March 2009, Kenya Airways reported a loss before tax of Sh5.66 billion, primarily pegged on fuel hedging contracts.
To cushion its exposure to Western markets which have been severely affected by the economic downturn, the airline has aggressively spread out its network in Africa. Already, the national carrier is running marketing campaigns around the world with the hope of increasing visitor inflows.
Since January, the airline has added six routes of which four are in Africa. It boosts of the widest flight connectivity on the continent.
The Seychelles has also been hard hit by the financial meltdown resulting to a 12 per cent drop in its key market, England. Tourism is the top revenue earner for the Seychelles, followed by fishing.
Changed our strategy"We have changed our strategy due to the financial crisis by changing the concept that the Seychelles is a rich man's destination. People are also reluctant to travel long-haul flights due to costs," said Allan St Agie, the Seychelles Tourism Board director of marketing.
From pitching Sh660,000 a night, the island is now diversifying products to include budget travellers to as low as Sh4,400.
Following the crisis, tourist numbers have dropped 18 per cent at the beginning of the year, but currently stands at below five per cent.
Last year, the country attracted 156,000 visitors, a faction compared to Kenya.
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