Mt. Kenya Trail Series marks another miletone in KTB's local tourism diversification

Speaking at Kiambicho Forest in Murang’a County before cycling and hiking competition flag-off on Thursday, Kipchirchir said the series is confirming that a lot of exciting sceneries have not been explored both by local and international tourists, an area KTB is keen to exploit.

The untapped potential in the said sub-sector of tourism is thus inviting cooperation between the Ministry of Tourism and County governments across the country, a path KTB is already charting through the series.

“We have started opening up tourism for nature and adventure because we want to get more insights on the adventure and outdoors, connecting with communities while understanding their cultures and backgrounds,” said Kipchirchir.

“As Kenya Tourism Board we are leveraging on this particularly collaborating with Counties and other partners to highlight this and introduce it as an additional tourism product to the already well established ones, beaches and wildlife which are highly ranked.

“With that, we are able to connect with local communities and understand many things at the ground level. So far, there are many discoveries of hidden gems,” added Kipchirchir.

He is excited that the new strategy is well aligned with the new trends in tourism, and Kenyans are already embracing it.

“There are many groups in Kenya that have picked up this; in estates and cities to just come together to walk, run and site seeing which we really encourage as part of Magical Kenya Trail Series – discovering our counties,” further averred Kipchichir.

In the same breath, Murang’a County Acting Director of Tourism Whitney Macharia said there is a lot that is yet to be explored in domestic tourism, especially away from the traditional main products.

“In Murang’a, we have adventure tourism, sports tourism and cultural tourism. For example in adventure, we have water rafting which happens along River Sagana and River Mathioya. We also have amazing trails along the Aberdares where people can do a lot of hiking and cycling. That’s why we have recently hosted key events here in Murang’a like the African Rafting Championship, and we are already preparing to host the World Championship next year. This is just a piece of the many things that we have but have not been explored by our people. That’s why we are excited to have partnerships like the one we are doing with the Kenya Tourism Board through the Mt. Kenya Trail Series, as we harness our full potential in the sector,” elucidated Macharia.

She underscored the need for strategic partnerships to realize the goal, saying it aligns with the vision of Murang’a County Governor Dr. Irungu Kang’ata.

“We know we have to invest more to exploit the full potential of our local tourism. That’s why we are investing in infrastructure development – majorly for the hotels and sites that have not been discovered a lot. We are also looking for partnerships with investors to ensure there is more life in the tourism sector, Murang’a County,” Macharia explained.

Cyclists traversed and hikers over 20 kilometers across the Kiambicho Forest, before touring the beautiful Murang’a Gorges, believed to have formed out of the hundreds of years of soil erosion.

The Trail Series entered Day Two on Friday in Kirinyaga County, and will culminate on Sunday in Meru County.