NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 2 – The Kenyatta International Convention Centre(KICC) is eyeing a partnership with Kenya Railways that will see some of the carriages converted into boardrooms in order to allow commuters to have meetings en route.
KICC Chief Executive Officer(CEO) Nana Gecaga said this is part of the strategies adopted by the convention in order to increase uptake of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) and make Kenya an ideal travel and tourism destination.
“We are working on a partnership with Kenya Railways which will see the conversion of some carriages into meeting rooms in order to boost,” he said on Tuesday during a forum held to discuss the status of the meeting sector in the country.
The partnership, yet to be signed will among others entail branding and co-branding of both entities which are key players in the tourism sector.
Gecaga remained positive of improved recovery in the sector singling out KICC which she said had witnessed rapid recovery and currently handles 60 percent of its capacity.
“We have seen a lot of local clients, we are getting busy, we were performing two events a week and now we are at four, its back to back now. Over the past few months, our capacity has risen to 60 percent,” she said.
Lighting of the building, she said has been a key boost to its revenues specifically in the fourth quarter of 2021 when it hosted Google, Cocacola among other major firms.
In order to support local business, Gecaga announced that KICC will also provide a free organic market platform whereby Kenyan-made products will be showcased.
Beginning March, the event which will occur twice a month will bring together Small Micro Enterprises (SMEs) in food, beauty, digital, clothing, crafts, and other sectors who will showcase
“Kenyans visiting the expo will pay a fee in order to access the platform but actual exhibitors will not be charged,” she added.
