The Magical Kenya Open (MKO) offers an opportunity to market the destination’s tourism offerings to the world through international participants.
On the side-lines of the tournament which runs between the 3rd and 6th March 2022, destination marketer Kenya Tourism Board took the opportunity to immerse the European Tour players and teams with a safari at the Nairobi National Park.
Zander Lombard, a professional golfer from South Africa termed conducive weather as a plus to Kenya as a golfing destination. “The Beautiful weather, scenery, great nature, and beautiful landscape is what keep me coming to Kenya every year,” said Lombard after a two-hour game drive at the park.
On his part, Dutch professional golfer Daan Huizing said: “It’s always been nice coming to Kenya, the people are very kind, they always welcome us with open arms and the climate is also very good. We are very happy for the opportunity to visit the Nairobi National Park and get to see animals closely. It’s definitely on my bucket list to come back to Kenya without golf clubs but to just enjoy the country.”
According to KTB CEO Dr Betty Radier MKO has continued to be one of the key avenues through which the destination targets millions of golf lovers across the world. She added that the 2022 competition was more important because it gave an opportunity to showcase the destinations preparedness against Covid-19 as well as giving the many fans an opportunity to enjoy the game after the event was held without spectators in 2021.
“This event continues to play a major role in showcasing Kenya’s destination brand to the world and we are glad to be hosting it yet again this year. It attracts a lot of global attention which presents an opportunity to showcase to the world what we have to offer as a destination,” said Radier.
She added: “We are glad to have invited some of the golfers for a familiarization trip as we try to get them have a taste of Kenya’s tourism, we shall have more of these trips as the tournament progresses. Our goal is to also convert these players into our ambassadors when they go back to their countries. We want to tell the world that there is much more to Kenya and therefore when visitors come to play a round of golf here, they can also take some time out to visit some attractions like the game parks we have in the country. As the tournament kicks off, we hope to witness a world-class golfing experience to be enjoyed by the local and international audiences,” added Dr Radier
The Magical Kenya Open which is part of the elite European Tour (now DP World Tour) is being held at Muthaiga Golf Club. This will be the third time that the event will be held under the auspices of the DP World Tour.
The 2022 tournament will feature over 150 local and international golfers from over 30 different countries. Some of the notable names to look out for include Italian Guido Migliozzi – winner of the 2019 edition and South African Justin Hardin who won the tournament in 2021.
