Nairobi — As Kenya and countries across the globe mark World Tourism Day on September 27, 2022, Capital Business caught up with an expert in the hospitality industry to find out the status of the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) in Kenya.

PrideInn Hotels, Resorts and Camps Group Director of Operations Jackton Amutala said that the MICE segment plays a vital role in the performance of the hospitality industry and the wider tourism sector.

Amutala noted that Kenyan hotels had been registering continued recovery in the last year, partly because of support from the MICE segment that has seen the number of conferences and meetings hosted in the country rise.

"At PrideInn, for instance, we continue to receive massive support from organizers of business meetings and conferences, as seen with the rise in the number of activities we are hosting across hotels."

His sentiments are backed by the recently launched Tourism Sector Performance report by the Tourism Research Institute that found that international visitor arrivals grew to 924,812, between January and August 2022, compared to 483,246 recorded in the same period in 2021.

Of the number, 313,466 were on holiday, 274,722 were visiting family or friends, and 258,889 came to Kenya for business and MICE.

Another 43,883 tourists were on transit, 16,196 for education, and the rest for other purposes, including religion and sports.

He added that the domestic market has equally been a critical contributor to the growth of MICE in Kenya.

Amutala spoke on the sidelines of the Council of Governors Summit recently held at PrideInn Paradise Beach Resort & Spa.