Thursday, May 23, 2019
IMEX is a yearly world exhibition for Meetings, Incentives Travel, Conventions and Events (MICE), which was inaugurated on Tuesday 21st, 2019. It is a three-day event with more than 150 countries participating.
The Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), the state parastatal authorized to market and place Kenya for conference tourism both in terms of local as well as international, is coordinating the participation of Kenya at the show on behalf of the Ministry.
To quote KICC Chief Executive Officer, Nana Gecaga, “It is high time Kenya took up its rightful share of the meetings industry globally and this can only be achieved through aggressive marketing activities like the IMEX show. The Ministry of Tourism and KICC are joined by partners from private sector in the show.”
“This year’s increase in partner members is a show that Kenya is taking up its position as the preferred Conference Tourism destination in Africa,” she added.
The private sector participants participating in the Ministry and KICC include Heritage Hotels, Pride inn, Radisson Blu, Safari Park Hotel, Intercontinental Hotel and Zuri Events.
The show is anticipated to reap business leads that will be followed up as possible conferences and events to be organized in Kenya. Kenya has a total of 60 hosted buyer appointments and many group presentations that will offer leads for potential conventions and incentives travel to Kenya.
Gecaga has laid down plans through the Ministry of Tourism to make sure conferencing at KICC is an all-round business. The Corporation will categorize at least four events on a yearly basis to draw international participation and will be organized during the low conference season. Also, this will assist in increasing the conference tourism market share of Kenya. The Centre is also taking upgrades to give a modern facelift to the meeting rooms, as well us expansion of the convention facilities to increase its capacity.
