President Jacob Zuma flanked by SA Tourism CEO Thandiwe January-Mclean (2nd right) and left by South African Minister of Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk

The Kenya Tourism Board faces a daunting task in marketing the country as one of the best tourism destinations in the world mainly because of stiff competition from other African countries and inadequate budgets.

KTB gets only Sh1.4 billion annually for its operations. Compare this to countries like South Africa which are investing more than Sh10 billion in tourism annually.

The just concluded annual INDABA Tourism Trade Show in Durban, South Africa, provided yet another opportunity for KTB to clearly define emerging trends, competition and challenges which must be tackled head on for Kenya’s tourism to thrive.

INDABA is the largest tourist trade show on the African continent and it’s organized by the South African Tourism annually in Durban.

Most of the exhibitors are from African countries although a high number of players in the sector from European countries including Britain the United States and Germany also attended this year’s show.

All the East African states and those from South African Development Corporation (SADAC) participated in the event. Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, DRC, Angola, Nigeria, Botswana were among the African countries with a large presence at the show.

South Africa is now Kenya’s greatest threat in tourism but other countries in the east African region like Tanzania and Rwanda are staging a fight for the tourism market in the region. Tanzania in particular has recorded impressive number of tourists visiting the country, just more 4 million visitors annually.

It emerged during the INDABA show that South Africa and Kenya are targeting the same markets to increase their tourist numbers.

South Africa is eyeing to increase the number of visitors from other African countries including Nigeria, Angola, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Democratic Republic of Congo, among other areas are were too seeking to market Kenya as a tourist destination within the same African countries.

Boosted by the success in hosting the World Cup, sound infrastructure and a wide range of wildlife, South Africa is currently receiving more than 8.5 million visits annually.

Kenya gets 1.4 millions every year, according to last year’s figures.”Our main constraint now is money. When you look at what South Africa is investing in this sector and you will realize we have a lot to do”, says KTB director of marketing Jennifer Opondo.

Opondo and her KTB team put up a spirited campaign for Kenya at INDABA 2011 and despites challenges, Kenya’s stands attracted great interests from tour firms, investors and hoteliers among other exhibitors at the event.