Let’s invest more in sports to spur tourism

Elite men's race winner Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge (left) and elite women's race winner Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot pose during the trophy ceremony of the 2018 London Marathon in central London on April 22, 2018. PHOTO | DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS |

What you need to know:

  • Last year, Kenyan long-distance runners swept five of six World Marathon Majors in both the men’s and women’s categories.

  • In March, Kenya hosted the 50th Kenya Open Golf Championship — a tournament that has been part of the European Challenge Tour since 1991.

  • While recognising Kenya’s strengths as a sports tourism destination, it would be remiss not to acknowledge that the country needs to invest more in sports.

The victories by Kenyan marathoners led by Eliud Kipchoge and Vivian Cheruiyot at this year’s Virgin Money London Marathon affirmed Kenya’s prowess as a nation of champion athletes.

Their victory marks a continuation of the stellar performance. Last year, Kenyan long-distance runners swept five of six World Marathon Majors in both the men’s and women’s categories.

Barely a month ago, the Kenya put up a gallant performance against Fiji with the “Shujaas” bagging silver in the final of the World Rugby Sevens final in Vancouver, Canada.

KENYA OPEN

In March, Kenya hosted the 50th Kenya Open Golf Championship — a tournament that was founded in 1967 and has been part of the European Challenge Tour since 1991. Over 120 golfers from Europe, Southern Africa and North and South America participated with Kenya well represented.

Hull City AFC, a Championship League football club, has announced that it will send a squad of players to Nairobi next month to play against one of Kenya’s top football clubs.

These are but some of the sporting events that have generated positive publicity for Kenya. They offer a unique opportunity to showcase the country as a sporting destination to the global market.

LEISURE

In today’s globalised world, tourism is the world’s number one industry while  sports tops the leisure sector.

While sports is often viewed as a separate activity, it is inextricably linked to tourism. It can now be viewed as an attraction within the broader tourism industry as it is fast emerging as a key source of tourism supply.

Sport tourism is, itself, an investment in the tourism industry and has significant positive economic and socio-cultural impacts on the destination, creating exposure and enhancing its image.

It generates tourism growth through high hotel bed occupancy and busy restaurants and retail outlets, which all support increased employment. It attracts high-yield visitors, especially families and repeat visitors, and provides a vehicle through which visitors can gain better knowledge of the culture of the local communities.

TOURISM

Sports is, indeed, one of the tourism experiences Kenya is looking to develop to spur visitor numbers towards the annual target of four million foreign tourists by 2030 as outlined in the ‘National Tourism Blueprint 2030’. Kenya already possesses attractions for sports tourists.

Iten, a quiet rural town in the Great Rift Valley, is known as the ‘home of athletics’. Hundreds of champion long-distance runners have trained in the high-altitude conditions and Iten has become increasingly attractive to foreign tourists.

Our country’s impeccable weather conditions, which favour long-distance running, have drawn professional athletes such as Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe, multiple World and Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah, USA’s top woman marathoner Desire Linden and the national teams of Turkey, Qatar, Bahrain, China and Great Britain, among others, who have all serially pitched camp in the North Rift region in search of the Kenyan magic.

SURFING

Sport enthusiasts can also enjoy activities such as fishing in the Indian Ocean, kite surfing over the Indian Ocean, skydiving, playing golf on both sides of the Equator in Nanyuki, white-water rafting along River Sagana or running with our elite athletes at the annual Standard Chartered and Safaricom Lewa marathons.

While recognising Kenya’s strengths as a sports tourism destination, it would be remiss not to acknowledge that the country needs to invest more in sports. The government has committed to double its sponsorship of the Kenya Open golf championship to 2.2 million euros (Sh270 million) to elevate it to the main European Tour in 2019. Investments are expected in rugby, athletics and others.

 Mr Kariuki is the chairman of Kenya Tourism Board (KTB). [email protected]