Nairobi –September 23, 2021: The International Air Transport Association (IATA)’s Regional Vice President for Africa and Middle East, Mr. Kamil Al-Awadhi paid a courtesy visit to the Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) to discuss a closer collaboration between IATA and the travel agents in Kenya as an effort to fast track the recovery of Kenya’s aviation and tourism sectors. Al-Awadhi’s visit comes at a time when the Kenya market was migrating to the New Generation of IATA settlement system (NGISS), a system that seeks to modernize the current billing and settlement plan that travel agents are using to settle payments for air tickets to IATA.

Al-Awadhi was received by KATA CEO Ms. Agnes Mucuha and other board representatives. Ms. Mucuha called on IATA to support KATA members with familiarizing with the New Generation of IATA settlement system (NGISS), during this transition period.

Ms. Mucuha also called on IATA to support KATA in conducting professional training for Agents to strengthen their knowledge and skills and accelerate the digitalisation of their businesses through the establishment of E-commerce platforms that will provide Agents with a wider reach to customers.  She called upon IATA to collaborate with KATA in the advocacy on the open skies implementation within the African continent in order to leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area opportunities that will pivot the rapid growth of Africa’s aviation industry.

KATA Finance Director Dr. Joseph Kithitu said that several business interruptions brought about by Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 affected travel agents’ cashflows as they experienced massive cancellations and delayed airline refunds. He called on IATA to conduct a re-evaluation of the agents’ financial review on the basis of the temporary Local Finance Criteria (LFC) that is currently in operation for the Kenyan market.

“KATA travel agents contribute over 75% of the total passenger number bookings to Kenya Airways and other international airlines operating in Kenya. The closer the collaboration between IATA and KATA, the faster we shall rebuild the recovery of travel” he said.

Dr. Kithitu also impressed upon IATA to implement the Travel Agents Service Fee solution that will enable the travel agents to collect their service fees through IATA’s billing and settlement program efficiently. He noted that this will improve on the operational efficiencies of the Agent’s businesses.

Al-Awadhi, who was accompanied by Dr. Alex Stancu, Head of Region, South and East Africa and Dr. Getnet Taye, Regional Manager, Cargo and Ground Ops – AME thanked KATA for hosting the IATA delegation. He emphasized on the importance of close ties between KATA and IATA as an impetus to boost Kenya’s aviation and tourism industry.

Al-Awadhi said that the airline passenger traffic to, from and within Kenya fell by 52% in June 2021 vs June 2019. The picture was similar for the first half of 2021, with passenger volumes having declined by 54.2% as compared to the first half of 2019.

He called for a joint focus between airlines and travel agents to aid the recovery of the aviation industry. “If we work together, the next two years should see stronger recovery – even as the country ramps up vaccination and more countries reopen their borders,” he said.

Al-Awadhi expressed his profound passion to helping Africa’s Air transport and Aviation industry grow. He called on KATA to join IATA in strongly advocating for intra-Africa connectivity dubbed Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM). He said that SAATM is intended to unlock travel within the continent and if fully implemented in the post-pandemic it will provide an even more important economic boost.

“Full implementation of SAATM across the continent would generate significant economic benefits for Kenya by creating about 39,000 new jobs and adding USD201 million to the country’s GDP,” he reiterated.

Al-Awadhi also spoke about the need for Kenya to realise that it is sitting on a gold mine full of opportunities! He urged Kenya to focus on a target of achieving 6.2 billion in tourism receipts compared to the current performance of 3.2 billion. He said, “Africa’s aviation performance has been challenging, and IATA is hoping to bring the transport ministers together in a forum to commit to the growth of the industry through strategic actions and interventions aimed at liberalizing the aviation industry”.

Al-Awadhi congratulated Kenya on going live on the New Generation of IATA settlement system (NGISS)! He said “Today, Thursday 23^rd Spetemebr, 2021 is a momentous day for Kenya with the Go live of the NewGen system! Kenya was amongst the last few countries in the IATA network to go live and this was limiting Kenya’s potential to grow and capitalize on the gains of the new technology solutions.”

The Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) and Amadeus East Africa announced Kenya’s Travel Recovery and Demand performance for 2021 in a webinar on “Outlook on Recovery” for the travel trade in Kenya. Amadeus search and agency booking data shows a very slight improvement in both outbound and inbound search demand and booking volumes for 2021 YTD vs. the same period in 2020.

Travel demand remains significantly below pre-COVID-19 levels owing to international travel restrictions in key markets in Europe, North America and Asia. However, in June 2021 there has been growth in searches and bookings to EAC countries with Tanzania leading as a leisure destination and also to the UAE. During the same period, there has been a growing demand for inbound travel into Kenya from USA, Germany and UK. Domestic travel searches remain high as people are looking to travel more within the country. However, overall travel demand to and from Kenya stands at -69.9% in June 2021 compared to same time in 2019.

The data presented indicated that COVID-19 related restrictions were a showstopper as 84% of respondents said they won’t travel if there is a chance of quarantine. According to the United Nations’ World Travel Organization (UNWTO), it is important for countries to start lifting travel restrictions to significantly improve traveller confidence.

Safe Travel Ecosystem: Preparing for Recovery

Speaking during the webinar, Jamel Chandoul Senior Vice President, MEA Amadeus noted that recovery will be driven by rebuilding traveller confidence and trust; trust for travellers that travel is safe and trust that governments can control the pandemic.

According to global data presented by Amadeus drawn from the “Rebuild Travel Digital Health Survey 2021” 92% of global travellers still have concerns about travelling – the top 3 travel concerns in 2021 are;

• 48% – Mixing with crowds at airports etc.
• 47% – Trust issues if accommodation is adhering to health and safety guidelines
• 46% – Safety & cleanliness of public transport

The survey findings indicated that CONFIDENCE to travel is high and the current appetite for travel stands at 41% globally. TRAVEL TECH has also been seen as a key confidence booster among travellers and if well deployed could be paramount to help restart global travel. 91% of travelers indicated that they were comfortable using a digital health passport for future travel.

INDUSTRY COLLABORATION is also key to reigniting global travel. 72%-74% of travelers said they were willing to store travel health data electronically, if it enables them pass through airports faster and travel to more destinations while 68% of travellers are willing to share health data if the airlines that they frequently fly with offer to store it.

“A renewed travel industry will require collaboration between governments, travel companies, entrepreneurs, and public authorities,” said Mr Chandoul.

What’s Trending in travel: Search Trends – Inbound & Outbound

Kenya Inbound Trends

A key trend noted in data by Amadeus is that 63% of international travellers searching for Kenya in June planned to travel within the next 3 months. This is an indication that travellers are planning and booking with shorter lead times.

The data presented shows a positive trajectory for travel during the course of 2021, with a gradual increase in searches. For instance, the average daily search activity of international travellers interested in Kenya in June was 10% higher than the year-to-date average. In July it was already 31% above the 2021 average.

Most searches for travel to Kenya in 2021 originated mainly from USA, 43% of total demand, followed by Germany 8%, UK 7% and Canada 4%. The USA also recorded the highest relative share of bookings at 30% followed by Germany at 8% and UAE and UK at 4% each.

Kenya Outbound Demand Evolution

Demand for Kenyans to travel to destinations outside Kenya has been increasing steadily in the past 2 months. The average daily search activity of Kenyans in June was 8% higher than the year-to-date average and in July it was 35% above the 2021 average.  The most searched destination by Kenyans in June 2021 was USA, 30% of total demand, Tanzania 5%, UAE 5%, and UK 4%, and the most booked destinations were UAE, with 15% of total bookings, USA 12%, Tanzania 7% and Ethiopia 6%.

UAE is leading due to fewer COVID-19 travel restrictions in place. In East Africa, Tanzania is the leading destination travelled to by Kenyans especially for leisure activities. This demand is driven by relaxed COVID-19 border restrictions for Kenyans visiting the country.

Evolution of Booking and Departure Lead Time for Kenya

We noted that the booking and departure lead time significantly reduced in 2021YTD compared to 2019. This is largely driven by the uncertainties with the destinations that Kenyans travel to. The constantly changing travel restrictions has affected early bookings and most Kenyans prefer to book close to their departure date.

• 72% of searches in June had a departure date in either June or July
• Booking lead time in 2019 – 26.4 days
• Booking lead time in 2021 – 16.9 days

Kenyan Seat Capacity Recovery: Percentage vs 2019 volumes, July – December

Kenya’s seat capacity among international airlines operating from Kenya has also been recovering gradually when compared to 2019 volumes, albeit slightly behind the global average;

• Seat Capacity recovery to international destinations – 51% (Global recovery is at 63%)
• Seat Capacity recovery to domestic destination – 86% (Global recovery is at 91%)
• Seat Capacity recovery to Middle East – 72%
• Seat Capacity recovery to North Africa – 83%

Notable Travel Trends for 2021

1. There has been a 20% increase on searches for 20+ day stays in multiple destinations searched by Kenyans. The need for longer vacations/stays by Kenyans to various destinations can be attributed to quarantine requirements of about 2 weeks in various destinations, and a general interest/need for longer vacations which can be seen as making up for restricted travel in 2020.
2. There has been an increase in relative share of Business and First-Class bookings from 9% in 2019 to 11% in 2021. This can be attributed to great discounts from airlines and an increased demand for indulgent travel.

The indulgent travel trend can be observed for all of the high-demand destinations for Kenyans:

• UAE – increased from 12.4% in 2019 to 20.9% in 2021YTD
• USA – increased from 11.1% in 2019 to 11.7% in 2021YTD
• UK – increased from 23.0% in 2019 to 27.4% in 2021YTD
• Tanzania – increased from 3.2% in 2019 to 4.0% in 2021YTD

Key insights for Travel Agents

Shorter lead times – The constantly changing landscape brought about by the pandemic has weakened consumer confidence and shortened the average booking to departure lead time. Travel Agents can leverage last-minute promotions to entice customers.

Emerging Destinations – With some markets enforcing travel bans and others opening themselves up to inbound tourism, we are witnessing a new order of top destinations. These change quickly as consumers react fast to travel announcements. By monitoring border openings, Travel Agents can prepare new offers and entice clients whilst demonstrating their knowledge of the evolving situation.

Extended stays in destination – There has been a global trend of longer average stays in destination. Kenyan travelers are no exception, with 2021 seeing a 20% increase in booked trips of 20 days or more. Travel Agents may want to consider increasing the number of longer stay trips in their offering.

Indulgent travel increases – Qualitative studies conducted by Amadeus indicate that travelers desire more indulgent and longer holidays now that travel once again becomes possible. In Kenya the relative share of booked seats in premium classes increased by 2% in 2021. This could mean there is increased potential to upsell clients to premium seats.

Industry Reaction

The webinar attracted attendance from different stakeholders within the travel industry including travel agents, government stakeholders, academic institutions and research institutions.

Speaking during the virtual session, Hon Joseph Boinnet, the Cabinet Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife expressed optimism in the resilience of the Travel and Tourism Industry to recover following some of the recovery measures put in place by government.

“The impact of COVID on the tourism and travel industry has been devastating. The data obtained from the Tourism Research Institute show that the industry made losses of upwards of 1.2 million full time jobs that translated to losses of KSh.192 billion in direct labour earnings, Ksh.492 billion on the entire tourism sector value chain while the industry players are estimated to have lost business value of up to Ksh.500 billion,” said Hon. Boinnet, terming this as catastrophic livelihood losses.

He lauded the government for taking proactive measures to ensure the sustainability of the industry such as ensuring that public and privately managed parks continue operating, promoting Kenya as an all-round destination for visitors and advocating for increased vaccination among the industry players. He said this while expressing his optimism in the industry’s recovery trajectory that is projected to fully recover by 2024.

Mr. Mohammed Wanyoike, KATA Chairman also expressed confidence on the industry making a full recovery sooner rather than later. “The industry is currently performing at about 40% of the 2019 numbers and this is an indication that the worst is behind us,” he said.

Mr. Mathieu Dutrisac, the Managing Director of Amadeus East Africa lauded the partnership that KATA and Amadeus have had for years that has seen the two provide the much-needed support to Kenya’s travel trade through the data insights.

Ms. Agnes Mucuha, KATA CEO urged the industry players to leverage the use of data in studying future trends. She said that use of data, embracing digital technological solutions and collaboration among the industry players will play a central role in ensuring a speedy recovery. “The pandemic has transformed the role of travel agents to travel advisors. Consumers will now be looking to you as a one stop shop for all their travel and informational needs relating to the everchanging travel industry,” she said.

Amadeus’ search and agency booking data is the source for all data quoted in this release. Please see the footnote for further details.

–ENDS—

About Amadeus search and agency booking data

^{As a key travel technology provider, Amadeus analyzes billions of global air travel transactions daily in near real time. Amadeus search and agency booking data is a suite of products that leverage the rich travel data generated across Amadeus to provide relevant and up-to-date travel trends and market information to the trade, destination tourism offices and tourism boards. The data includes in-depth information on Air Travel Demand – Flight Searches in OTAs globally, Travel Agency Bookings- Passengers booked via all GDSs, Seat Capacity- number of flights and seats scheduled and operated by airlines, Air Passenger Traffic- overall passenger volumes regardless of the booking channel.} 

More often than not, the Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) receives complaints from travelers who are victims of holiday scams after having purchased fake air tickets or fake holiday packages from unscrupulous travel agents.

The reality is that while it was widely predicted that the internet was going to ease travel by providing tons of information on available flights, fares, destination, safari packages, hotel bookings and literally everything a consumer needs in planning their travel, when digital tools were placed at every traveler’s disposal, chaos ensued. It gave rise to sophisticated internet scammers that have swindled innocent consumers their hard-earned money and dream travel experiences.

Very often, the association will be hand tied in dealing with such complaints making it hard to assist the innocent complainants. We urge members of the public to ensure that they transact with KATA certified agents who have been vetted and certified by the association and regulators. They are bound by an ethical code of conduct that binds their dealings with clients on integrity and professionalism.

Other than assuring you of safety of your money, KATA certified travel agents bring tons of expertise in managing travel not only in Kenya but to global destinations, taking away the chaos and ensuring they deliver to you the dream vacation and hassle-free trip.

Individual Travel Planning Vs Using a Travel Agent

Let say you want to book a hotel in Dubai and want to do it on your own? It’s simple. You just type “Hotels in Dubai” on Google search, then wade through the 520 million search results – most of which look the same, whether they are good or bad, legit or bogus. Spend just 10 seconds each vetting sites, and you’ll be done in four years – and still won’t have booked anything.

Let’s take a much simpler planning, like straightforward searches for airfares for example for Nairobi to Toronto. You will also be bombarded with numerous options starting with basic economy fares that come with tons of restrictions and fees, so the price you see isn’t the one you end up paying, along with connections way too short or way too long. Compounded with the Covid19 travel restrictions and protocols it becomes extremely difficult for a traveler to make a choice. KATA certified agents have extensive experience and training, and they are best placed to assist a traveler navigate choices confidently by providing the right advisory based on the needs of the traveler.

Amid this jamboree of information, chances are a huge percentage – that could be well close to half – could be phony. There has been an unprecedent rise in fake travel agents that look legit by every measure; impressive website, competitive packages, a physical location together with photos, fake reviews, fake receptionists etc. An initial search on the internet clears all doubt from a potential traveller that the agency/site could be a sophisticated scammer. You can’t believe how easy it is to get scammed online.

Let’s face it; a great holiday experience anywhere in the world will depend on how well you have planned your travel. From transport to accommodation, there are lots of choices and options to consider. And in all honesty, trying to put together such an experience while relying on your own sense of expertise without the help of a professional travel agent can cost you! This is where a KATA certified travel agent comes in to take away all the hustle, help you within your budget and give you a pleasant travel experience.  

When is a certified travel agent handy?

Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong: Emergencies do happen and for every average occasional traveller who anticipates that anything can go wrong, chances are something will always go wrong. Due to the ongoing Covid19 pandemic, travel has become uncertain and often unpredictable. Bad weather has become a commonplace these days, you could get sick, get robbed, or be caught in those events that will disrupt your flights, and/or your final destination. Think civil unrest, disease outbreaks, wildfires or airline labor strikes.

Anything that causes cancelled flights means hassles, but the people who get through this process the most smoothly and the ones who get rebooked first are usually the ones who used a travel agent. The rest will get bumped from flight to flight – involuntarily – at a rate probably three times higher than what you would have paid.

KATA certified agents will always be a call away.

They are constantly monitoring their clients’ flights and they usually know about your problem before you do – and often have a solution before you even call them. They have direct access to airlines, to GDS (global distribution system) and can get ticketing changes made in minutes.

So, as much as you’d want to hope on a cheap flight that you found through your internet searches, you probably would not know what to do when caught in these situations without the help of a KATA certified travel agent.

Unrivalled expertise: You can never know everything about travel, even if you are a frequent traveller. You need to deal with someone who is deeply involved in the industry, and who better than KATA certified travel agents? The problem with travellers who get scammed, they often rely on information they get from phony sites that will often be misleading. The result is you get scammed or get a raw deal. Some travelers will want to play safe and only stick to known brands of hotels or airlines or destinations that they know. Chances are, the best hotels, airlines and destinations are ones you have likely never heard of or used. This is where you can’t beat KATA certified travel agents’ knowledge and ability to give you a bespoke travel and holiday experience. The agencies usually leverage several experts such as a safari expert, a cruise expert, a corporate travel expert, a honeymoon expert, and so on, and they all work together.

First lane access: Whether you are trying to book space at a coveted 8-villa safari lodge in Laikipia, Kenya or getting a room in a top Dubai hotel during the Expo Dubai 2020, most hoteliers keep emergency inventory and guess who gets it? The travel agents they have known for years who book a lot of guests and send them a lot of business. This is the order of things in the travel industry. Do you need access to that hard-to-get dinner reservation? Free upgrade to first class? Or a free upgrade to the presidential suite? The KATA certified travel agent is your go-to person as they have built these connections over years or decades.

Travel with confidence and book your next trip through a KATA certified travel agent by visiting this link:- https://katakenya.org/travel-agents

Last week, the Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) held a virtual forum to sensitize Kenya’s travel agents on IATA’s New Generation Settlement Systems (NewGen ISS) scheduled to be implemented in the Kenyan Market in September 2021. This new implementation date comes after IATA had postponed its initial implementation date of October 16th 2019.

According to IATA, the NewGen ISS represents the most extensive and ambitious modernization of the IATA Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) that travel agents have been using to facilitate the global distribution and settlement of funds between travel agents and airlines for the past five decades.

The webinar which was opened by Madam Shazmin Manji, Vice-Chairperson Kenya Association of Travel Agents was geared towards preparing and educating the Kenyan travel trade players on the NewGen ISS accreditation models, IATA’s approach towards an enhanced risk management framework for the industry with the introduction of the Remittance Holding Capacity (RHC), and a new form of payment dubbed the IATA EasyPay based on the pay-as-you-go model.

The NewGen ISS comes with three levels of travel agent accreditation, allowing travel agents to choose the model most applicable to their business while giving them an opportunity to switch between models as their business evolves.

“NewGen ISS’ Risk Management Framework will offer a more secure environment for all participants through; fitting risk management to agents’ choice of accreditation and participation terms, introduction of a Remittance Holding Capacity (RHC), to enable safer selling and mitigate losses resulting from travel agency defaults,” said Manal Al-Taher, IATA’s Regional Manager for Transformation and Products-AME.

The system packs an alternative payments solution for travel agents, the IATA EasyPay, which will be a voluntary pay-as-you-go e-wallet solution for issuance of airline tickets in the BSP. The IATA EasyPay solution will allow travel agents to lower their financial security amounts held with IATA, and to issue transactions which are not included in their BSP remittance capacity.

The NewGen ISS will also feature the Global Default Insurance that will offer optional financial security alternative for travel agents serving as an alternative to bank guarantees.

“This initiative will bring positive changes to the current Billing Settlement Plan (BSP) that continues to serve the industry’s financial settlement requirements. It will bring greater options and flexibility to travel agents and provide greater financial security to airlines,” said Al-Taher.

RHC Calculation Model

The Remittance Holding Capacity (RHC) introduces a monetary threshold for agent’s BSP Cash sales. Agents will be notified by email when they reach 50%, 75% and 100% of the determined RHC, and will be able to monitor their RHC usage directly through the IATA Customer Portal.

The RHC for travel agents will be calculated based on the average of the three highest reporting periods of the previous 12 months plus 100%. However, in the current Covid-19 situation, IATA clarified that the calculations will be based on the 2019 sales, owing to the fact that 2020/21 sales were severally impacted by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

While commenting on the calculation model for the Remittance Holding Capacity based on the 2019 sales, KATA CEO Agnes Mucuha said, “2019 sales levels will favour our travel agents, giving them a higher RHC thus allowing them to sell more.”

While addressing any fears that travel agents expressed over IATA limiting their selling capacity, Dania Al-Abbadi, IATA’s Senior Manager in charge of Agency Risk Management said that RHC will not restrict or limit travel agent sales. She reiterated that the measure is purely a prudential safeguard to protect airline revenues and not restricting sales.

“Travel agents will still have the capacity to continue selling via IATA EasyPay or by increasing their financial security which will in turn increase their RHC threshold,” said Al-Abbadi.

Dr Joseph Kithitu, KATA Finance Director urged members to familiarise themselves with the new rules as soon as possible, to understand the potential impact on their business. He advised members to lay more emphasis on understanding how these two areas will impact them; the Risk Status and Remittance Holding Capacity (RHC).

He encouraged members not to fear the new system, and to embrace the new technology tools that the industry is inventing as they are intended to create more efficiency.

The Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) and Kenya Airways (KQ) on Tuesday 22^nd June held an industry meeting to review strategies that will strengthen the airline’s ties with the Travel Trade actors in Kenya and to discuss various issues affecting the travel industry.

Speaking during the event, KATA Chairman Mohammed Wanyoike noted that travel agents play an integral role to aid the recovery of travel in Kenya, and particularly have become a key partner to the country’s national carrier.

He said that travel agencies have lend a hand to the industry during the most difficult time when travellers were exposed to many complexities in a number of areas that were necessitated by the stringent COVID-19 travel protocols.

While emphasizing on the importance of strengthening KQ-travel agents’ relations, Ms Agnes Mucuha, KATA’s Chief Executive noted that Travel Agents in Kenya account for more than 75% of passenger number bookings to KQ, a position that is critical to keeping KQ flights in the skies.

Her sentiments come at a time when travel agents are reporting surging domestic leisure travel and an uptick in ticket sales for international travel. Key markets in Europe and North America are opening up bringing with it a pent-up demand to travel among consumers.

Industry Challenges

Since the onset of Covid-19 pandemic, travel agents in Kenya have had to grapple with issues ranging from unsettled refunds from airlines, scrapping of commission and incentives by some carriers, price wars, restrictive fare rules, frequent flight re-scheduling and interruptions, unreliable customer service, restrictive ADMs and EMDs and disruptions in local flight schedules among others.

The KATA-KQ industry meeting was meant to address some of these challenges that the travel trade continues to endure while offering a way forward even as travel begins to resume.

Mr Wanyoike hailed KQ for their flexibility and honoring customer refunds following the high cancellation rates during the pandemic. The airline offered dedicated customer support to the industry, quickly addressing the many concerns raised by travel agents.

He assured the national carrier of an unequivocal support from the travel agents even as it steers its path back to profitability.

Strengthening the Airline-Agent Relationship

KQ Chief Commercial and Customer Officer (CCCO), Julius Thairu, assured travel agents of the airline’s continued support even as the two parties continue to enjoy a cordial relationship.

He noted that the Kenya air travel market remains one of the most competitive and lucrative on the African continent with just about every other major international carrier plying the Nairobi route.

Mr Thairu reiterated that for KQ to maintain its competitiveness and reclaim its market share in Africa, it will need a strengthened relationship with the travel trade community and other partners, and to come up with agile ways to defend its market share.

The airline aspires to become the preferred African Carrier and a sustainable business with a break-even position by 2024.

In April this year, Kenya Airways inked a codeshare agreement with national Congo Airways aimed at expanding their reach in the domestic, African and international routes. The national carrier has also expanded its codeshare partnership with Delta Airlines an agreement that takes the duo’s code-share network to a combined 39 cities across Africa, USA and Canada.

The airline, that has been in the process of repurposing some of its Dreamliners to preighters, has also been registered as a UN cargo service provider, a position that will accord them opportunities in UN vaccines and pharma distribution, humanitarian aid transport, UN personnel transportation and UN aircraft charter services.

The carrier is also looking to diversify its service offering according to its market segmentation. Tom Reeves, KQ’s Ag. Sales Director said that the airline is looking into areas of KQ Holidays for leisure travelers, “Koolfliers” targeted for the student market, and medical tourism flights. The airline will also be looking to implement an NDC solution for the market towards the end of this year.

Among the key tenets that Kenya Airways will be focusing on is to repurpose its capacity to support the travel trade who will enable them build brand equity, leverage technology towards existing customers while promoting value, de-risking the business, redefine their price strategy and rebooking policy, leveraging more partnerships and incentivizing future purchases and operationalizing new routes.

Improved Customer Experience

Kenya has a robust and mature travel market. Nairobi’s attractiveness is hinged on its centrality on the continent which allows for easy connectivity to other regional destinations, as well as the hosting of key multinational businesses and non-profit agencies such as the UN Agencies.

Kenya’s travel agents noted KQ’s improved customer service in the recent past. The KQ call center has become agile and queries are attended to within a very short turn-around time, with customer centric solutions being offered during these uncertain times. Travel Agents have been complimenting the customer experience for KQ by providing the most recent and up to date advisory to travelers seeking to visit various destinations on their network under the current Covid19 travel protocols and regulations that have been changing without any notice or warning. This teamwork and coordinated approach in serving the travelers is impacting KQ’s customer experience positively.

Nairobi: On Thursday 27th May 2021, the Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) CEO, Agnes Mucuha led a delegation of Kenya’s travel and tourism industry representatives to a meeting with High Commissioner of Tanzania to Kenya Dr. John Simbachawene at the Tanzania High Commission in Nairobi to discuss strategies for mutual collaboration and partnership with Tanzania in promoting outbound tourism to Tanzania.

This strategic meeting comes at a time when KATA has shifted its focus to promotion of outbound tourism to EAC countries in bid to help its members expand their horizon of business as well as well as improving bilateral ties with the countries to get more tourists to Kenya and simultaneously send tourists from Kenya to those destinations.

This KATA led initiative is part of the association’s strategic role within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to promote outbound travel and tourism operations within the East African Community (EAC) member states with an intent to develop a model or cross-border tourism.

In March 2018, African leaders signed three separate agreements: the African Continental Free Trade Agreement; the Kigali Declaration; and the Protocol on Free Movement of Persons. The three agreements work with the aim of reducing bureaucracy, harmonising regulations and avoiding protectionism in several sectors including aviation, travel, tourism and hospitality.

The association invited stakeholders from Kenya Association of Tour Operators, East African Tourism Platform, the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre – East Africa and other stakeholders in the hospitality and tourism sector to discuss how to strengthen the trade-in travel and tourism services between the two countries.

The meeting brought to the fore issues that need to be tackled such as the current trade barriers between Kenya and Tanzania that affects travel and tourism industry, handover of tourists at boarder points, increased costs of safaris, work permit challenges for tour drivers, extra fees for vehicle crossing to Tanzania, and limitations of access points into Tanzania. The trade barriers in travel and tourism are predicated upon the 1985 agreement that was signed by both states with a view of creating a platform for the flow of tourists between the two states. The agreement was driven by a market protectionism mind-set that is no longer viable today, and there was failure to adopt the EAC common market protocol that promotes mutual collaboration and cooperation.

Kenya and Tanzania are some of the fastest growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa with 5.8 percent and 7.2 percent growth rates respectively recorded in 2016. Both countries are richly endowed with natural resources and connected to the sea which makes their position strategic as the gateway to the EAC and Central Africa region.

As President Suluhu of Tanzania noted during her state visit, Kenya is a key partner for Tanzania and is the largest source of African Foreign Direct Investment into Tanzania. However, instead of the two states focusing on cooperation to boost trade and regional growth, they continue to compete on historical rivalry that has seen strong barriers imposed against doing business across the borders despite the countries being signatories to the EAC Common Market Protocol (CMP).

A classic example is when Tanzania banned Kenyan airlines from its space in September 2020, in retaliation to Kenya’s decision to put in place strict travel measures for its citizens over Covid-19 concerns. This move caused a significant disturbance to regional air services that lasted over two months, hampering regional tourism, intra-EAC trade and bilateral trade between Kenya and Tanzania; with the travel and trade sectors advocating for a coordinated approach to the resumption of air services in bid to restore steady business and economic rebound.

This “sibling mistrust” was termed as “both unfortunate and disruptive to travel and trade between the two East African Community (EAC) nations” by the Daily Nation in an article published in September 2020. The paper said that “for EAC to sustain effectiveness, there should be trust and political rapport among participating nations, in addition to having diplomatic processes that sort out routine differences when they arise.”

The KATA led initiative to foster increased outbound tourism to Tanzania is a positive step towards curing the perceived and lingering mistrusts between the two countries.

In the wake of the current global Covid-19 pandemic, there have been calls for African countries to focus on intra-African travel to ensure a quicker post-COVID recovery even as international tourism is experiencing a staggered upturn of the tourism sector.

African tourism ministers, in the recently concluded Global Travel and Tourism Resilience Council (GTTRC) virtual summit, noted that the global pandemic and its effect on tourism was key learning point for the continent.

Speaking during the event, Kenya’s Cabinet secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, Najib Balala said, “I’ve discussed with the African Union Commission on investing in security, air connectivity and seamless accessibility. We need to ensure that Africans can easily travel to their neighboring countries with the correct visas.”

Balala’s sentiments amplifies KATA’s initiative in promoting intra-African travel starting with the EAC. In a first of such bilateral travel promotion, KATA signed a partnership with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Rwanda Chamber of Tourism (RCT), the East African Tourism Platform (EATP) and RwandAir (WB) that will see promotion of free flow of business and leisure travel between Rwanda and Kenya. The association is currently planning familiarization trips for its members with talks going on with its Rwanda partners.

KATA is also working on a similar initiative with Ethiopian Holidays, a division of Ethiopian Airlines to facilitate and enhance the promotion of tourism opportunities for Kenya’s travel agents in Ethiopia which will later be followed by FAM trips to Addis Ababa and other attractions within Ethiopia.

In a nutshell

The travel and tourism industry has emerged as one of the largest and fastest growing economic sectors globally. The growth in the Kenyan travel and tourism industry has, in the past, been driven by a combination of rising income levels and changing lifestyles, development of diverse tourism offerings, and policy and regulatory support by the government authorities.

With more than 177 million inhabitants and GDP growth estimated at 5.9 percent, the EAC offers enormous potential for future growth in outbound travel. Whether it is for a business event or just for leisure, East Africans are increasingly travelling regionally for holiday/ leisure, business and MICE tourism.

Over the past year, this growth has severely been stunted by the Covid-19 pandemic across all segments of tourism. The sluggish economy has had an adverse impact on the Kenyan outbound tourism market despite Kenya being one of the fastest-growing outbound travel markets in East Africa.

KATA will continue focusing concerted efforts in the promotion of regional travel as a means to aid the recovery of the travel industry in the post pandemic period and in the spirit of AfCFTA.

Several years ago, a former FBI director Robert Mueller once said that there are two types of companies: “Those that have been hacked and those that will be.”

His statement still holds true today in Kenya, even as Kenyan companies experience an increase in cyber-attacks from sophisticated hackers.

In the last 3 months of 2020 for instance, Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) reported that cyber-attacks on Kenyan organisations rose by nearly 50 percent compared to a similar period the previous year. This was necessitated by the fact that many organisations were switching to and adopting remote working systems as well as ecommerce platforms amid Covid-19 lockdown measures.

CA data shows that more than 56 million cyber threats were detected nationwide in comparison to 37.1 million in 2019 in the period under review. “A majority of the threats were malware attacks, web application attacks, Distributed Denial of Service (DDos) threats among others,” said CA in a statement.

The rise in cyber threats have seen businesses lose billions of shillings and sensitive information to hackers. Travel companies, including travel agencies, are not immune. In fact, some experts warn that travel agencies are more vulnerable than other businesses.

In 2020, Independent reported that a data breach on Expedia and Booking.com could have potentially exposed data for millions of customers who made reservations using these platforms since 2013, after a software company was found to have improperly stored sensitive data.

In 2017, ZDNet reported that hackers used a flaw in the web server running the website of Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), the UK’s largest holiday and travel association, to access the data of as many as 43,000 people. Around 1,000 of the accessed files may include personal identity information fronting a risk of potential identity theft and fraud.

You will not imagine how absurdly easy it is for attackers to target the travel and hospitality industry. Many cybersecurity experts say the amount of personal client information that the travel industry collects make it a particularly alluring target for hackers. In fact, the 2018 Global Payments Insight Survey by ACI Worldwide and Ovum, they found that the travel and hospitality sector had been the most heavily affected, with 29% of respondents having experienced a breach.

Why are travel agents such a prime target?

Other than just the amount of information collected, part of the problem for the travel industry is the high uptake of new technologies without proper installation or maintenance by security experts, enabling breaches to go undetected. The lax investment in information security and end-user training among travel agencies have made them a target of interest.

According to an article published in Travel Market Report, in June 2016, JTB Corp, one of Japan’s largest travel agencies, announced that data from more than 7.9 million customers was compromised when an employee opened an infected e-mail attachment. The hacked information included customer names, addresses, e-mail addresses and about 4,300 valid passport numbers.

Experts have termed the JTB attack a form of “spear-phishing,” using an e-mail that appears to come from a trusted party.

These prominent breaches were evidence that the travel industry is highly susceptible to cyber security breaches, and agents are especially vulnerable because they cannot afford technology solutions to detect things like credit card fraud.

Because agencies are generally short-staffed and have less money to spend on sophisticated, software-based technology tools, their ability to detect data breaches becomes severely impacted.

What should you do when you have been attacked?

It’s smart to develop strong cyber safety habits to help prepare for a cyberattack or data breach. It’s also important to secure your personal information and networks.

1. Secure systems and ensure business continuity

Following a breach, the first key step will be to secure the IT systems in order to contain the breach and ensure it is not on going. It is also necessary to consider how and when the breach was detected, and whether any other systems have been compromised. Ensure to have in place suitable measures to ensure that any network or other intrusions are detected immediately.

• Notify the Airlines to suspend the ticket coupons

Attackers may target your booking system, and often will issue tickets using your system driving you into major losses and standoff with the airlines. It is important to suspend all ticket issuance immediately and notify all airlines in your database to invalidate all impacted tickets.

• Report the incident to the GDS company

Always reach out to your GDS and immediately inform them that you have been breached. This is important because the GDS systems are highly sophisticated and reinforced with strong cyber security measures, and they can assist in investigating the breach.

Report the incident to the national Computer Incident Response Team (CIRT)

Cybercrime is one of the most prolific forms of international crime, with damages set to cost the global economy USD10.5 trillion annually by 2025, according to Cybersecurity Ventures. Thus, CIRT takes such incidences with a lot of seriousness. Reporting will help CIRT take regular pulse checks on cybercrime in Kenya and to publish annual threat landscape assessments that underpin operational activities.

• Report the matter to the police and obtain an occurrence book (O/B) reference

Cybercrimes are offences punishable by law and the police will help in tracking down the cybercriminals.

• Conduct an information security audit through a registered Information Security company and obtain an official report

A cyber security audit is designed to be a comprehensive review and analysis of your business’s IT infrastructure. It identifies threats and vulnerabilities, exposing weaknesses and high-risk practices. It is vital to manage the risk of cyber threats, preventing revenue loss and reputational damage. 

• Address legal and regulatory requirements

Cyber-attacks and data breaches come with legal implications. You might face legal suits from disgruntled customers or stakeholders whose information might have been compromised. It is important to reflect on what your legal options are and ensure compliance.

If you have watched the 2011 Hollywood movie Contagion, then you can attest that it is almost believable that the current Coronavirus pandemic has borrowed from its playbook. The virus has not only caused more than a million deaths, but has also created abrupt changes in people’s daily lives and adversely affected the global economy while causing widespread panic.

India is currently the global center of a devastating new wave of the pandemic which has pushed the country’s health system to near collapse. Since the start of the pandemic, India has seen over 18.3 million cases and nearly 205,000 deaths as of April 29, ranking as world’s second highest case numbers, after the United States.

CNN reports that “the outbreak has pushed the country’s healthcare system to near breaking point. With no space left in hospitals, patients are being left to die at home, in ambulances and outside clinics. Even those who are given a bed remain in danger, with hospitals running out of oxygen and asking patients’ families to bring their own.”

India is Kenya’s and Africa’s key source market for travel and tourism. Africa has been watching in disbelief as India’s infection rates soared coupled with a rapidly rising death toll and the discovery of a new virus variant – leaving behind a stench of death and intermittent border closures.

Kenya’s travel industry insiders are bracing for a substantial slump in business following the government’s move to suspend all passenger flights between Kenya and India in a bid to contain the importation and spread of India’s variant to the country.

Kenya has joined a number of other countries that have restricted travel to and from India including Bangladesh, the UK, Oman, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada and now USA which has already announced now guidelines for travel to India.

As a key source market, Kenya was banking on India to boost its international tourism numbers during the year. Official statistics from the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife indicate that Kenya registered a total of 122,649 arrivals from India through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and was the second-largest source of imports to Kenya at KSh178.8 billion.

In 2020, statistics for the period between January to October show that the total number of tourist arrivals into Kenya from India was 25,251, almost a 90% decline which is attributed to the Covid-19 travel restrictions imposed by both Kenya and India.

A large number of patients from Kenya also travel to India every year for specialised medical treatment, due to its affordable and easily accessible healthcare, making the country’s medical tourism a key attraction.

As travel began to pick up in 2021, Kenya saw the Indian market as key to the revival of travel and tourism going forward. But this is never to be as India’s soaring number of cases have not only resulted to a total travel ban, but also chocked out its healthcare system, with hospitals facing acute shortage of oxygen, medicine and vaccines supply.

Impact on EAC’s Travel and Tourism

A recently released study by the East African Business Council (EABC) painted a grim picture of the Covid situation in the travel and tourism industry with the sector experiencing a loss of 2.1 million jobs in the 6 member states of the East African Community (EAC). The report said that there were massive reductions international arrivals, jobs, hotel occupancy rates among others.

EABC’s study that reported a loss of USD4.8 billion in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry caused by the impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak, comes at the backdrop of the world celebrating International Labour Day on 1st May. The loss is attributed to the impact of Covid-19 outbreak, mostly in key tourist source markets of Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia.

The study that was conducted by EABC with the support of the African Economic Research Consortium and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aimed at assessing the impact of Covid-19 on the travel, tourism and hospitality industry and establish policy options to protect the sector players from Covid-19 disruptions and future pandemics.

A key point brought out by the study was that, businesses in the travel and tourism industry turned to borrowing as the only means to fund their running expenditures such as rent and utilities due to reduced operational capital. This is because the industry players in the EAC region lack a macro-economic policy that would help the industry mitigate the impact and business disruption caused by the pandemic.

Not out of the woods, yet.

A survey conducted by Skål International Düsseldorf and IU University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf, that was carried out among Skål International members worldwide evaluating their professional view of the future of Travel and Tourism (TT) under the threat of the coronavirus, found out that 82% of the participants called their actual business situation bad or very bad. With 75% rating their business development in the past 2 months as stalled or declined.

Participants cited main reasons for bad business to be closed borders. The survey found out that despite there being some recovery from December 2020, stalling requests have persisted since January 2021 with clients waiting for a more stable situation before booking.

This is the exact situation facing travel agents in Kenya with the biggest hinderance being border closures. The travel agents experienced business shocks following UK’s decision to add Kenya to its red list and later issued a level 4 travel advisory against travel to Kenya. Kenya retaliated by imposing travel restriction for travellers originating from or transiting through the UK.

The US also moved to ban travel to Kenya following fears of the South African Covid-19 variant in Kenya spreading to the US. The latest in travel ban spree has been that between Kenya and India; all having catastrophic effects on travel agency businesses in Kenya.

The Skål International survey notes that the real game changer for the recovery of travel will be global immunisation by vaccination. Kenya started her vaccination exercise beginning of March 2021 with priority given to essential workers and risk groups.

The Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife also launched a nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive for frontline personnel in the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality sector which is currently in its first phase of roll out.

“Our industry, like many others who depend on mobility, is in a survival fight. Things might become better, if the pandemic situation is under control faster by speedy global vaccination execution. But might become worse, if vaccination is delayed in many countries or the virus is causing new problems,” read the Skål report in part.

This recommendation comes when countries like Kenya and India and the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa are facing severe vaccine shortages. In 16% of the participating countries in the Skål International survey, vaccination has not even started yet.

Here is what to note. The situation in India is not unique to India, it can happen to any country. Africa has been a ticking bomb for a scenario like that in India. Already India’s “double mutant” variant has been reported in Uganda. The sooner African countries ramp up immunization by vaccination, the sooner its industries will recover, especially the travel industry.

Now that the travel industry in Kenya has been given some reprieve following President Kenyatta’s directive to lift the ban on travel and lockdown of the “five counties” in Kenya, and the unsuspension of local flights, it is paramount that the general public, led by sector players, to observer the Covid-19 travel protocols set in place for the purposes of safeguarding the economy against another lockdown.

The Kenya Association of Travel Agents in partnerships with Ethiopian Airlines Nairobi Area Office and the Embassy of Ethiopia in Kenya, on 22^nd April 2021 hosted a webinar to promote Ethiopian Tourism Opportunities to the Kenyan market.

In the forum, the stakeholders explored areas of potential collaborations between businesses and institutions working in the travel and tourism sector.

Speaking during the event, H.E Tsion Teklu, State Minister for Economic Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs in Ethiopia urged the two countries to come up with innovative approach to addressing policy issues facing the tourism industry in both countries.

“We have a lot to offer! Our proximity should make us work closely. The prosperity of Kenya is the prosperity of Ethiopia and Vice versa,” said H.E Tsion Teklu.

In 1988, the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) gave leeway to individual countries to design their tourism development policy by taking into account their historical, cultural, social and economic conditions.

WTO pointed out that, third world countries should focus on the problems involved in the choice of policy as this will help them optimize the return from their tourism resources; natural and cultural.

H.E Jean Kamau, Ambassador of Kenya to Ethiopia urged Kenya’s travel agents and tour operators to take advantage of the vast tourism opportunities that Ethiopia holds. She urged stakeholders to relook Visa policies that will facilitate free flow on people between Kenya and Ethiopia.

During the past few decades, tourism has emerged as one of the world’s major industries, exceeding the importance of many manufacturing industries and other services in terms of sales, employment and foreign earnings.

Travel and tourism role within Sub-Saharan countries is very significant. In Kenya, for example, the tourism industry has rapidly become the number one foreign exchange earner, a status of central importance to the country’s economic health.

However, the results are far from uniform in the rest of Sub-Sahara. There is considerable disparity when considering tourist receipts as a percentage of GDP when a range of Sub-Saharan African countries are considered, such as Ethiopia.

Speaking at the forum, the Chairman for Kenya Association of Travel Agents, Mohammed Wanyoike pointed out that the amount of outbound travel to Ethiopia from Kenya has not been proportionate, insisting that this has to change.

A number of less developed countries that are endowed with abundant tourist attractions have failed to capitalise on their resources in order to improve their export earnings capabilities. Lack of strategic objectives has been a major drawback in some countries.

Others suffer from negative perceptions of their destinations mainly due to unstable political situations, lack of security or poor facilities.

Mr. Wanyoike told the Ethiopian counterparts that with appropriate strategies, “destination Ethiopia can be extensively promoted as a preferred destination for major outbound tourist markets from East Africa,” adding that, “with all that Ethiopia has to offer, a greater focus on travel and tourism will play a part in unlocking its potential and ensuring that benefits ultimately accrue to young people across Ethiopia and beyond.”

He also implored travel agents in Kenya to focus on curating packages that will attract their clients to destination Ethiopia as the market offers immense potential for business development for Kenyan travel agents.

While urging Kenya’s travel agents and tour operators to sell destination Ethiopia, H.E Meles Alem, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia to Kenya said that Ethiopia is open and safe for travel.

His statement came in the backdrop of Ethiopia being awarded the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Safe Travels Stamp – the world’s first-ever global safety and hygiene stamp.

Ethiopia’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism last year implemented a raft of measures to ensure safety for residents, travellers, workers and businesses in the tourism value chain, as the country reopened its borders to international visitors.

Ethiopian Holidays, a division of Ethiopian Airlines has also been curating holiday packages that will help promote leisure travel into Ethiopia especially for residents within East Africa and the larger African continent.

Mrs. Tigist Terefe, the Kenya Country Manager for Ethiopian Airlines said that the airline remains a formidable partner in the promotion and accessibility of Destination Ethiopia and its attraction sites. She sited Ethiopian Airlines domestic air connectivity as the best in Africa as most parts of the country are service by the Airline.

Mrs. Terefe also cited that the newly expanded Addis Ababa airport will be a big boost to the travel experience of those transiting through Addis Ababa.

Hahn Air is pleased to introduce its latest partner carriers that are available on the HR-169 document for ticketing in Kenya. African carrier Precision Air from Tanzania is now also available under the H1 code. In addition, Taiwanese Starlux Airlines and Bolivian airline Amaszonas were integrated into Hahn Air’s leading partner network. Read on for more details.

Welcome Precision Air (PW)

Established in 1993, Precision Air (PW) is a Tanzanian carrier offering scheduled flights from its main hub Dar es Salaam to Arusha, Bukoba, Dodoma, Kahama, Kilimanjaro, Mbeya, Mtwara, Mwanza, Zanzibar and Nairobi. Their fleet consists of nine ATR aircraft with up to 70 seats. Flights of this dual partner are available under the H1 code and PW code in Amadeus, Galileo, Sirena, Worldspan und Sabre.

Welcome Starlux Airlines (JX)

Taiwanese carrier Starlux Airlines (JX) was founded in 2020. From its base airport in Taipei, it flies to eight attractive destinations in Japan and South East Asia: Bangkok, Cebu, Da Nang, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Osaka, Penang and Tokyo. This new partner is available for ticketing on the insolvency-safe HR-169 ticket in the following GDSs: Abacus, Amadeus, Galileo, Infini, Sabre and Travelsky

Welcome Amaszonas (Z8)

Línea Aérea Amaszonas (Z8), also known as Amaszonas, is a Bolivian airline based at El Alto Airport in La Paz. Amaszonas serves 17 destinations in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. The dual partner’s flights are available under the X1 code in Sabre, Galileo and Worldspan GDSs and under their own code Z8 in Amadeus und Sirena.

Questions? Meet your personal Hahn Air representative

If you have any questions about the Hahn Air solutions and services, take the opportunity to schedule your personal session with your Hahn Air representative, Candy Kasonkomona. She will answer all your questions about HR-169, H1-Air, X1-Air, Securtix^® and more. Simply send your suggestions for a date and time to c.kasonkomona@hahnair.com  and advise how you would like to meet. Candy is available for sessions via Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, Teams or phone.

For more information please visit www.hahnair.com