'Crazy about Kenya' promotes music, art and culture in Africa's wildlife capital

A grassroots project involving Kenyan artists and musicians and popular with a growing number of ethical travelers, the main thrust of the project is concerned with putting a positive vibe back into destination via Kenyan art and music.

Acacia Adventure Holidays and the Kenya Tourist Board are partnering in a new online and print campaign, aimed at generating increased bookings to Africa’s famed wildlife capital. The campaign hinges on “Crazy About Kenya”, a grassroots project involving Kenyan artists and musicians. Launched by the tour operator on Facebook, in June 2008, and popular with the growing number of ethical travelers, the main thrust of the project is concerned with putting a positive vibe back into destination via Kenyan art and music. While the musicians and artists will still be central to the new campaign, the main focus of the project in its second phase will be the destination.

Heath Ashcroft, Marketing Manager at Acacia Adventure Holidays,comments: “We both felt it was an opportune time to reinvest in Kenya. While bookings have risen over the last three months it was a slow start to what should have been high season. Our integrated campaign will heighten interest with consumers, and by spreading the net wider through web initiatives, and incentivising our base to market, we will also be providing valuable marketing support for agents.”

Heath Ashcroft, continues: “Crazy About Kenya has revived interest in the country and there is already a great deal of goodwill behind the project. Driven by the Kenyan people themselves, the campaign has been a powerful force with today’s responsible travelers. In fact, since the project has been in operation we have seen bookings to Kenya rise by 20%. The Kenyans are a proud nation and the destination is often central in informing the artists’ imagery and music. In this sense, the campaign will now be going full circle, with our partners, both old and new, connecting their artistic roots to their love of Kenya”.

In keeping with the grassroots theme, the next phase will see the creation of a new Crazy About Kenya logo, which will be downloadable, for use on clients or agents’ blogs and websites, and a branded mini-site featuring the tour operator’s partners and destination highlights. There are further plans to target the social networking community, MySpace – web promotion and two-way communication being central to the campaign. The revitalised Crazy About Kenya project will also be backed by advertising in the Sunday Times, the creation of a monthly newsletter entitled “The Whispering Grass of the MasaiPlains” and a safari e-game.

Angie Meddins, Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for Kenya Tourist Board, comments: “The Kenya Tourist Board are delighted to be working with Acacia Adventure Holidays for our autumn campaign, designed to boost sales for winter 08/09 and take early bookings for summer 09. Acacia Adventure Holidays is a well established expert in selling holidays to Kenya with a wide range of product for visitors to experience Kenya’s vast array of charms – from the Indian Ocean beaches to the thrilling experience of a safari.”

Acacia Adventure Holidays offers overland trips covering Kenya, including tour highlights as listed in the brochure, transport, roads tolls and taxes, all camping accommodation and cooking equipment, most meals and services of tour leader and driver.

For more information on Acacia Adventure Holidays, visit www.acacia-africa.com.

Tagged as:

adventure, Africa, culture, Facebook, Kenya, marketing, MySpace, wildlife