On November 28th 2002, terrorists launched a double attack against tourists on the Kenyan coast. An Israeli managed hotel in the resort town of Kikambala was bombed and a missile was launched at an Israeli charter jet taking off from Mombasa airport.The impact on the tourism sector was immediate and devastating. For an industry already buffeted by the post 9/11 decline in travel, the negative publicity and international travel advisories that resulted from these attacks were devastating.

In May 2003, the UK government instructed all British registered air carriers to cease traffic to Nairobi and Mombasa - and for Kenya the European tourist market virtually ceased to exist.

The loss of tourism income posed a threat to thousands of jobs and livelihoods, the preservation of the environment and to the entire National economy.

The Government saw a major recovery plan for the sector as a priority, and sought assistance from the European Union (EU).

As a result, the Tourism Market Recovery Programme (TMRP) was developed by Tourism & Transport Consult (TTC) and directly implemented by TTF on behalf of the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB).

The EU was committed to working in partnership with Kenya and provided KShs 250mn (€2.976mn) for the programme through the Tourism Trust Fund (TTF), matched by GoK funding of KShs 250mn.

The TMRP was implemented between September 2003 and March 2004 by a Programme Director and Technical Adviser, reporting to the Board of Trustees of TTF.

There were three primary objectives:

• Counter negative publicity and shift perceptions
• Raise motivation to visit, and secure product in the market
• Return to visitor growth from Europe

TMRP was implemented in and across ten European source markets, which account for over 50% of visitor arrivals to Kenya. They are UK, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Spain. It also supported KTB’s market development representatives (MDR’s) in those markets, the Kenya Tourism Federation (KTF), and the KTB destination website www.magicalkenya.com

Six key marketing activities were employed within the programme – advertising; public relations; tour operator partnerships; trade fair participation; print collateral and website development.

TMRP was delivered on budget and on time, during the key holiday decision-making months in most European source markets.

The operational overheads, including marketing management support were tightly contained, enabling the programme to be delivered within budget at KShs 4mn (€44.5k). This represented less than 1% of the total budget, a figure generally well below industry norms for the implementation of complex pan-European marketing programmes..

Four national ‘above-the-line’ stand-alone advertising campaigns were implemented in the largest European source markets – UK, Germany, France and Italy. Two smaller campaigns were mounted in Switzerland and Sweden.

These campaigns were all supported by major ‘below-the-line’ public relations campaigns tailored for each market.

Sixty-four tour operator marketing partnerships were made across Europe, each individually tailored to suit market needs and conditions, and KTB and the private sector participated in eleven separate European trade and consumer fairs.

The destination website was upgraded to include new interactive features and an online directory of operators and accommodation, and new collateral material in five languages was produced.

• Market research carried out in the two largest markets, UK and Germany
• Visitor arrival numbers and tourism earning data provided by KTB
• Industry assessments provided by MDR’s and tour operators in source markets
• Industry assessments provided by ground handlers (incoming tour operators) and hoteliers in Kenya and the air carriers
• Logged web traffic

Some of the earliest indications of increased market awareness and interest in Kenya were recorded online.

During the prime implementation period of TMRP (January to March 2004) activity levels on the upgraded and enhanced website www.magicalkenya.com were at an all-time high, achieving an average 4,757 hits per day, which was 130% up on the pre-TMRP period and demonstrated a much increased level of use by European based users compared to previous data.

The results of the advertising research in the UK and Germany, together with very many affirmative independent statements from the private sector in Kenya and the source markets confirm that all three primary objectives set for the TMRP were delivered under the programme.

Visitor arrivals from TMRP source markets for the period Jan-Jul 2004 show an increase of 17.4% versus the same period last year. Arrivals from other (non-TMRP) source markets in Europe fell by 24% compared with the same period (Jan-Jul) in 2003.

Tour operators in source markets together with hoteliers and ground handling agents in Kenya, have reported very significant beneficial impact of TMRP, specifically increases in tourist arrivals from the targeted source markets.

TMRP has delivered benefits to the tourist industry for both the upcountry safari and coast products.

Of particular importance are comments from the German MDR. Traditionally Kenya is considered a cost beach-based holiday for the German market. However, one of the major tour operators offering Kenya in that market reported a 30% increase in bookings for their summer programme over 2003, but more notably, “high-end safari bookings show the largest growth rate of all Kenya programmes” thus increasing financial yield per visitor.

Post TMRP, many air carriers operating between Kenya and Europe increased frequency and capacity on their routes to and from Kenya. Some air carriers introduced new services from or to markets not previously served.

All of this information was supported by strong statements and comments from a wide cross section of sources, including the media in Kenya and abroad.

The resultant and continuing upsurge in the Kenyan tourism sector and economy has its origins in the TMRP programme.