“Let me tell you a story”.
If you’ve spent enough time around the KATA boardroom, you’ve probably heard some version of it before.
Not the exact words. Those change depending on the meeting, the challenge at hand, or the opportunity sitting on the table.
But the message remains remarkably consistent.
Think long-term. Build relationships. Protect the industry. Create opportunities for those coming after us.
The KATA boardroom has heard these conversations more times than most people can imagine. They don’t come from textbooks or motivational quotes. They come from experience. From navigating industry disruptions. From managing crises. From understanding that the future of travel isn’t something that happens to us. It’s something we help shape.
And if there is one person who has consistently championed that mindset, it is Nicanor Sabula.
So when news emerged that the KATA CEO had been named among the MIPAD Global Top 100 Travel, Tourism & Hospitality Leaders – Class of 2026, it felt less like a surprise and more like a moment of recognition, a culmination of years of work.
The truth is, most industry leadership happens far away from cameras.
It happens in boardrooms. In strategy sessions. In difficult conversations. In competing interests that need to find common ground. In meetings that start with one problem and end with three new ideas.
For nearly two decades, Sabula has been part of those conversations.
As CEO of the Kenya Association of Travel Agents and a Director at the Tourism Regulatory Authority (TRA), he has helped guide discussions that influence not only travel agents but the wider tourism ecosystem.
The industry often celebrates visible achievements. New routes. Visitor arrival numbers. Tourism campaigns. Major investments. But behind every milestone is a network of people working to create the conditions that enable growth. That work rarely attracts headlines. Yet it matters.
Perhaps that’s why this recognition feels significant.
The MIPAD Global Top 100 list places Sabula alongside tourism ministers, airline CEOs, hospitality executives, tourism board leaders, investors, and destination developers from across Africa and the global diaspora.
These are individuals helping shape how the world experiences destinations, builds tourism economies, and connects people across borders.
To see a Kenyan travel trade leader included in that company is not just recognition of an individual. It is recognition of an entire profession.
Travel agents have long been among the industry’s quiet enablers. They connect travellers to destinations, businesses to opportunities, and dreams to itineraries. They solve problems before customers know they exist and continue to adapt as technology reshapes how travel is bought and sold.
Sabula has spent much of his leadership journey advocating for that value.
Those who have sat across the boardroom table from him know his approach. Ask questions. Challenge assumptions. Look beyond immediate wins. Think about what today’s decisions mean for the industry’s future.
Sometimes those conversations are comfortable. Sometimes they are not. But they are always rooted in one belief: that the industry must continue evolving if it hopes to remain relevant.
That philosophy feels particularly important today.
Travel has become an industry defined by uncertainty. Economic shifts, technological disruption, changing traveller expectations, and global events have turned adaptability into a core business strategy.
The leaders who succeed are often those willing to prepare for challenges before they arrive. Perhaps that is why the KATA boardroom has heard those stories so many times. Because leadership is not simply about responding to the future. It is about helping create it.
And sometimes, years later, the world notices.
The MIPAD recognition may carry Nic Sabula’s name. But for many within Kenya’s travel industry, it also reflects something bigger. The growing influence of Kenyan travel professionals, the importance of industry advocacy, and the value of leaders willing to invest their time, energy, and experience into building something that lasts.
Not every story starts with an award.
Most start with a conversation.
And in this case, the conversation has been happening in the KATA boardroom for years.
The award is simply the latest chapter.
