Marketing and advertising company BT concepts has begun the fourth phase of the Tembea Tujenge Kenya Initiative. The initiative is aimed at boosting Kenya’s tourism sector’s recovery from the harsh economic environment occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Tembea Tujenge Kenya initiative is supported by corporates including Shell, Sarova Hotels, Isuzu East Africa, Tourism Funds, Safaricom, Madison Insurance and St. John Ambulance. The initiative is also focused at marketing Kenya to Kenyans and enable locals to explore Kenya affordably in order to promote domestic tourism and attain industry sustainability.
Speaking during the launch of the fourth phase, the initiative’s ambassador, Maina Kageni, the initiative has helped promote local tourism with majority of Kenyans now visiting the various destinations showcased through the initiative.
“Majority of Kenyans are responding and they have started to take road trips we encourage them to continue to do so and do so responsibly because we are in the middle of a pandemic that has taken a crazy turn and so being careful is extremely important,” said Maina.
Isuzu East Africa Regional Sales Manager Charles Kinuthia noted that the initiative has also helped in saving thousands of jobs that have been affected by the pandemic.
“Encouraging Kenyans to come out and spend money on holidays in our own country is one of the fastest ways to begin propping up the hospitality industry. This will also save the thousands of jobs that are at stake due to the economic slow-down,” said Kinuthia.
The initiative is expected to run for the next 3 years.
In the first quarter between October and December, Tembea Tujenge Kenya campaign visited and highlighted six counties namely Kajiado, Laikipia, Mombasa, Kwale, Lamu and Nakuru.
The tourism industry was one of the hard-hit sectors from the pandemic after Kenya and global countries shut their borders to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.