Unlocking the Kenyan Tourism Potential Through Park Branding Exercise

Abstract

For half a century, the key vocabularies defining Kenya's tourism sector have been: safari, big five, savanna, Maasai and the coastal Swahili. Of the 52 national parks and reserves in Kenya, only 6 accounted for 70% of the total visitation in 2006. This leaves many conservation areas with hardly any tourism activity. While acknowledging that Kenya has not yet fully exploited its tourism potential, this paper puts into perspective efforts being undertaken by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) in trying to popularize less frequented conservation areas since 2005. Indeed, a publication by the World Bank Group (2010) on the state of Kenya's tourism brought to the fore the fact that Kenya has an important ‘jewel’ that needs to be polished. Through an analysis of the brand names and images associated with different parks, this paper also explores the gaps inherent in achieving destination competitiveness at a micro level. Indeed, the branding exercise not only meant the rehabilitation of infrastructure but also a comprehensive community outreach programmes around the protected areas. Nevertheless, an analysis of the branding messages and intentions suggest that for the KWS, the brand names proposed limit themselves within the confines of the parks with no regard for the bigger picture of the surrounding environment within which the parks are found.