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Kenya Meeting, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions Information
Kenya joined the world league as a conference destination after the completion of the striking Kenyatta International Conference Centre in 1973. This immensely practical conference center complemented Nairobi's other attractions; notably a pleasant year-round climate, a unique array of pre and post-conference tours and a wide range of accommodations all within walking distance of the center. The Centre opened with the World Bank conference for 4000 delegates.
The Centre caters not only for the giant single meeting but also for the smaller working groups, sub-committees and secretariats. Apart from the enormous plenary hall of 2415 sq m, (often used for exhibitions) there is a dramatic amphitheatre which seats 800 at tables on three balconies encircling the auditorium, two medium sized conference rooms and two smaller rooms suitable for committees and special purposes. Flexibility is further enhanced by the possibility of combining the two smaller rooms into one. Services are excellent: Internet cafes, banks, local offices, boutiques and restaurants can be accessed easily. Simultaneous interpretation, telex and fax, international telephone services and a fully equipped press center makes the Kenyatta International Conference Centre entirely suitable for the most fastidious of congress organizers.
Conference facilities also exist, as alternate experience, in Nairobi and at several dramatic locations throughout the country. For those entitled to use it, the United Nations complex at Gigiri, on the outskirts of Nairobi, has a custom built facility with 8 rooms, two of which can accommodate about 500 participants each. The Charter Hall, within the Nairobi City Council's precincts, and close to the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, can seat 1000 participants, theatre style and has simultaneous interpretation equipment. All the major Nairobi hotels have conference facilities and of these, Safari Park Hotel has a custom built center, which can accommodate 1000 persons. The Hilton and the Hotel Intercontinental both have meeting rooms, which can house 400 participants. Outside Nairobi, the Mount Kenya Safari Club at Nanyuki, is a luxurious destination with a facility for 100 persons, and such a romantic destination is a certain delegate draw.
Other centers are at Nyeri and Tsavo National Park, and even at a tented camp in the Masai Mara National Reserve. At the coast, several hotels have purpose built conference rooms, notably Club Sun N Sand, Leopard Beach Hotel, Mombasa and Nyali Beach Hotel while many others have multi-purpose function rooms that can be used for smaller meetings.
The incentive market is possibly Kenya's fastest growing segment within the tourism industry. This is, perhaps, not surprising as the country offers such a wide choice of activities. Many of the coast hotels can offer sufficient rooms for incentives of 200-300 people. Nairobi hotels can also handle these numbers and at the same time offer a wide range of leisure pursuits ranging from casinos to golf.
African theme evenings are no problem at both beach and city hotels. Often incentives are combined with safari, and safari circuits can handle the large numbers of guests at lodges such as Sopa. Another way in which large groups can be handled is to have a base at a large hotel and fly groups, daily, by light aircraft to a variety of parks. In addition to the coast and Nairobi, the Mount Kenya Safari Club at Nanyuki makes an ideal base for such an arrangement.
As with study tours it is often possible for participants in an incentive to meet their Kenyan counterparts.
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