KENYA’S DESTINATION IMAGE: PERCEPTIONS OF KENYA AS A PREMIER DESTINATION OF AFRICA

Juliana Kyalo

Doctorate student in United States International University and Lecturer at Kenya Utalii College, Nairobi, Kenya

Paul Katuse

Corresponding Author, Kenya

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the paper was to investigate the perceptions of Kenya as a premier destination in Africa by potential visitors from the United Kingdom source market. The article specifically looked at the perceptions before actual visitation by the prospective visitors. United Kingdom has over the years been one of the key source markets for tourists for Kenya. An understanding of the perceptions held by potential tourists is an important tool for marketers to re-brand Kenya and give it a new image that will among other things ensure continued growth of the industry. There is dearth of research in destination image on UK perspective on Kenya as a tourist destination. It is expected that the results of the study will lead to better strategies for tourism growth in the wake of global competition in the industry. The study was cross-sectional survey carried out in selected locations of the city of Glasgow in Scotland among prospective visitors to Kenya where face to face random sampling was used. Data was collected using a self administered questionnaire and analysed using quantitative and qualitative techniques. The results indicate that the perceptions of Kenya as a premier destination of Africa are positive. The research was only limited in the city of Glasgow in Scotland thereby representing a fraction of the entire source market. A large sample would have been appropriate from several cities in Europe. The fact that Kenya bears a positive image as a premiere tourist destination in Africa despite the many calamities and destination issues that have affected it such as terrorism, political violence and others, it is imperative for the government and other key players to put good competitive strategies in place in order to not only increase the tourist arrivals from diverse markets but also to increase tourism revenues.

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