Kenya's first e-tourism conference started today in Nairobi.
Damien Cook, CEO of Kenya's Tourism Trust Fund, says participants aim to form a single e-tourism portal for the East African country, which would co-ordinate the sector.
"Online tourism offers developing countries an opportunity to access direct consumer sales from all over the world," says Cook. A great deal of tourism revenue from African countries is redirected overseas as products are sold by tour and travel firms outside the countries, he notes.
"E-tourism is a potential solution to bring outside revenues back into Kenya."
Cook says by investing in technology and developing e-commerce, the tourist trade can overcome the digital divide that exists. A new, more profitable form of tourism will generate revenue, employment and development in all linked sectors, he says.
About 70% of frequent travellers use the Internet for travel planning, which makes e-tourism a must for Kenya, he says.
The conference will bring together participants from the tourism, communication and finance sectors to talk about new technology that could help small and grassroots tourism companies, says Cook.
The conference is being hosted by Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom and ISP AccessKenya.
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