Online visa application up among Indian travellers

The arrivals lounge at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi. PHOTO/MARTIN MUKANGU 

By Annie Njanja

The uptake of online visa application by Indians coming to Kenya is growing as many prefer the convenience that comes with the system.

E-visa applications introduced last year takes two days to process but also runs concurrently with the manual process at Kenya’s points of entry for last minute visitors.

“The system has been on a gradual execution and has so far taken off on a positive reception from travel trade in the market,” said Kenya’s High Commissioner to India Florence Weche adding that the method is fast and trendy.

Ms Weche was speaking during the launch of Kenya Kalling, a promotional and marketing campaign targeting major cities in India.

The Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), will spend Sh20 million in the campaign as it seeks to increase the number of tourists visiting the country.

Tour agent Smita Srivastava also the director for Chalo Africa advised his clients to do online visa applications.

“We have not experienced any challenge even though some still opt for the manual application at the port of entry.”

The campaign will run in print, radio and online media platforms in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The campaign comes after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Kenya in July, signed a memorandum of understanding on defence co-operation and agreed to deepen existing ties to create.

The campaign is part of KTB’s effort to grow the number of tourists visiting Kenya from the Asian country by 21 per cent in six months.

Tourists numbers from India have grown by 35 per cent to reach 37,597 in the period from January to July 2016 from17,944 recorded last year in the same period.

The campaign will also involve issuing of affordable travel packages from travel agents and incentives from the national courier, Kenya Airways (KQ) and will thrive with the long-standing cordial relationship between the two countries.