The Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) is seeking to harness the growing leisure running community in the vast US market that is currently estimated at 50 million runners, to drive tourism to Kenya by promoting it as an ideal destination for running vacations and races.
The strategic move is part of KTB’s efforts to tap into the global running community, which stands at slightly over 600 million enthusiasts.
The initiative follows Kenya’s continued dominance in major global marathons with the latest show of marathon excellence witnessed in the recently held Chicago Marathon where Ruth Chepng’etich shattered the women’s world record in 2:09:56 to break the previous mark by nearly two minutes.
According to KTB CEO June Chepkemei, the presence and success of elite Kenyan athletes in such prestigious marathons presents an opportunity to market the destination and drive sports tourism growth given the country’s prowess on the global stage and the international exposure that Kenyan sports men and women have accorded the country over the years.
“Kenya has firmly established itself as an athletics powerhouse globally. Our marathoners and long-distance runners continue to conquer the world’s most prestigious marathons. We want to translate this prowess to building Kenya as a go-to destination for sports tourism, starting with running,” said Chepkemei.
She stated that the KTB’s marketing activation at the Chicago marathon, which is one of the six World Marathon Majors, served as a springboard to sell a more diverse Kenyan experience to the US market and beyond given the global representation of the participants, the larger international community of running enthusiasts.
“The Chicago Marathon has provided us with a perfect platform to engage and inspire leisure runners to experience the thrill of running alongside our elite athletes through the ‘Run with Kenyans’ campaign which we are currently spearheading,” Chepkemei added.
The activities held prior to the marathon included consumer interactions at the Abbott Health & Fitness Expo where KTB hosted a booth. Additionally, at least 250 attendees graced The Chicago Marathon Dinner, an event organized by KTB and a host of Kenyans in the Diaspora, to honor elite runners including those from Kenya and Ethiopia who participated in the marathon.
The events were key in creating an association between Kenyan marathoners and Kenya as a diverse tourism destination, with the aim of driving more arrivals especially from the global running community led by the US.
“The US is our lead source market, outside of Africa, having contributed 265,310 arrivals or about 14% of our total arrivals in 2023. However, most of these visits were for leisure or holiday purposes, so we are keen to diversify and invite them to further explore the breadth of our offerings.
“By tapping into the vast community of leisure runners in the US and beyond, we aim to drive signups to our locally hosted marathons so that they can take advantage of the world ‘Running with Kenyans’ alongside our champions and eventually become brand ambassadors of our country,” explained Chepkemei.
Kenya’s Ambassador to the US, Amb. David Kerich, echoed Chepkemei’s sentiments, highlighting the importance of collaboration between the diaspora and the embassy in promoting Kenya as a top tourist destination.
“I appreciate KTB as a key partner in creating synergies that will help grow Kenya’s tourism pie. Sports tourism presents a significant opportunity, and we thank our athletes for the role they play in showcasing our country’s prowess on the global stage,” said Amb. Kerich.
He challenged the Kenyan diaspora to embrace the ‘Ziara Kenya One Diaspora One Tourist’ campaign, which seeks to harness the over 3 million Kenyans in the diaspora to help market their motherland through their networks within their host countries.
The ‘Run with Kenyans’ campaign is a strategic initiative that aims to leverage Kenya’s athletics dominance to attract international leisure runners and lovers of adventure including mountain climbing to participate in locally hosted marathons like the annual Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon and experience the thrill of running alongside elite Kenyan athletes.
Recently, KTB partnered with the Standard Chartered Marathon in a strategic deal spanning the next 3 years beginning from this year’s race on October 27th, 2024, as part of a larger campaign to re-position Kenya as the home of marathon running.
