Kenya Association of Travel Agencies hosted a workshop on collective reaction to issues that affect tourism, aviation and travel in Kenya. Topics covered regulatory environment, strategies, trade practices, and policies.
KATA’s main mandates include representing members in local and international spaces, protecting travel trade through advocacy, empowering members and associations through institutional capacity building and lobbying for favourable policies on behalf of members.
Peninah Malonza, Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage Cabinet Secretary, stated today that the tourism and aviation industries have shown resilience post-pandemic and are open to new technology.
She said that technology tools have improved travel experiences and given more opportunities for personalisation of customer experiences. Data analytics will allow the sector to meet changing expectations of modern-day travellers.
“We should continue to maintain platforms like KATA in order to provide professional guidelines and strategic inputs on issues impacting the Kenyan travel industry and as air travel recovers we must also restore traveler confidence by rebuilding capacity for safe,” said Malonza adding that the national carrier, Kenya Airways (KQ) plays a major role in transporting passengers to domestic, regional and international destinations.
The CS stated that the IATA Economics aviation report, released in September 2022 by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has shown that the aviation and travel industry has seen a continued recovery in passenger demand since the lifting of mobility restrictions in major businesses and tourist destinations around the world.
“To enable our carriers to enhance connectivity within and beyond the region, we should continue to adopt a liberal aviation policy through bilateral and multilateral Open Skies Agreement (OSA) to give airlines the flexibility to respond to market opportunities within the African Continental Free Trade Area,” said Malonza.
During the workshop, Ms Shazmin Makin Manji, KATA Chairlady, said that they have the responsibility to present the perspective of travel agents and other stakeholders.
“Through such industry forums like the one we are having today, KATA is seeking opportunities for strengthening our approach to responding to age-old issues that have been affecting our business and this is the time for us to concentrate our efforts to unlocking the systematic bottlenecks which have inhibited our progress,” said Manji.
Mathieu dutrisac, New Distribution Capacity (NDC), Programme Chairperson, and Austin Nyawara Chairperson, South Africa Airways (SAA), who confirmed their partnership to both KATA (KQ) in enabling travelers bundle their offers based on their preferences. It is a shift to experience-based, and it is now possible to do so.
By Edna Okoth, and Irene Mwende
Source: kenyanews
