The Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) held its first of a series of UAE promotional seminars and workshops in Abu Dhabi.

The series of seminars, workshops and meetings, to be conducted in Abu Dhabi (March 29), Sharjah (March 30) and Dubai (March 31), will target the UAE’s leading travel industry players in order to highlight Kenya’s attractiveness as a holiday and meetings and incentives destination for UAE residents.

Kenya’s rich wildlife and safari experiences were the focus of many of the presentations, highlighting the sophistication and safety precautions undertaken by Kenyan authorities and travel companies to provide unforgettable experiences where the whole family can experience nature close up, whether it is by jeep, hot air balloon, or for the more adventurous, on foot or on horseback.

Similarly, the vast array of luxury accommodation on offer was also extensively highlighted, with visitors to Kenya able to enjoy 5 star accommodation and services whether they be as a city hotel, golfing or beach resort accommodation type, private serviced villas or exclusive luxury tented camps and resorts in the country’s many national parks and reserves.

In addition to wildlife and luxury, the Kenya Tourist Board introduced many of the countries cultural experiences to be enjoyed, which included visits to Maasai villages and other tribal cultural centres, and visits to Kenya’s Unesco World Heritage town of Lamu, the birth place of Swahili culture, and where GCC nationals can experience how the Arabic language, culture, religion and even architecture strongly shaped and influenced Kenya’s ongoing cultural evolvement.

Furthermore, for the UAE’s golf enthusiasts Kenya was introduced as one of the world’s great “undiscovered” golfing destinations, with 39 golf courses in total, of which 12 are used for major championship events.

“At only a short four and a half hour flight away from the UAE, Kenya is the perfect long weekend getaway destination for families, couples and friends looking for unique and magical experiences. For these same reasons and also due to English being the business language of the country, and the fact that most nationalities are able to acquire their visit visa on arrival, Kenya is a convenient and exciting place for companies to hold their incentive meetings and staff team building activities,” said Jennifer Opondo, director of Marketing, Kenya Tourist Board.

Visitors to Kenya from the Middle East have been steadily climbing year on year, with the total number of visitors from the UAE in 2009 standing at 11,811. Visitor data is currently only available until November 2010, however for the first eleven months of 2010 the number of visitors from the UAE has already surpassed the 2009 total reaching 12,980. When compared to the first eleven months in 2009 the increase of visitors from the UAE is a robust 20 per cent.

“Air connectivity between the UAE/Gulf region and Kenya is strong with direct flights by Kenya Airways, Emirates Airlines, Air Arabia and Qatar Airways,” she added.

The Kenya Tourist Board is hoping to specifically expand the number of visitors from the UAE over this year’s summer and Eid Al Fitr holidays, which coincide when Kenya plays host to nature’s greatest show on earth – the Great Wildebeast Migration.

During the annual migration thousands of families and visitors from across the globe also transcend to Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve to witness the natural phenomenon that occurs between July and September each year. At this time hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebras make their seasonal trek in search of water and greener pastures completing what is a 500 kilometer round trip from the southern Serengeti to the north of the Maasai Mara National Reserve.

The Great Migration is widely considered to be Africa’s greatest wildlife spectacle and one of the world’s most exceptional natural phenomena.-TradeArabia News Service