African hotel and tourism stakeholders are calling for improved air connectivity, lower airfares, the establishment of convention bureaus and increased investment in infrastructure to enhance the continent’s competitiveness in the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism sector.

According to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Africa accounted for just 4 per cent of the global MICE market in 2025. South Africa leads as the preferred MICE destination, followed by Morocco, Rwanda and Kenya.

To unlock the sector’s full potential, stakeholders have converged in Mombasa for the ninth edition of the Africa MICE Summit, held under the theme, “Building Africa’s MICE Ecosystem for Trade, Investment and Innovation.”

The summit brings together players across the MICE ecosystem, including professional conference organisers, industry associations, MICE buyers, venues, hotels and technology companies providing solutions for the sector.

PrideInn Hotels, Resorts and Camps Managing Director Hasnain Noorani said the region needs to open up its borders, noting that only a few countries have visa-free policies, while most offer visas on arrival or require applications.

“As Africans, why do we need to control and create locks between our borders? Let us allow for meetings to happen, for business to happen, for trade to happen within Africa. People need to meet, and for people to meet, they need to travel, and for them to travel, borders need to be open. Then we need to create ease of travel,” said Noorani.

He further underscored the need to open up the continent’s skies and enhance connectivity, saying travelling within Africa is currently more expensive than travelling to Europe or even Asia.

“And why is it so? Because African carriers within Africa have higher taxes; we have higher fuel taxes and higher landing charges. There is no reason as to why we should lock travel within Africa,” said Noorani.

He added: “Let us create connectivity within Africa. Let us encourage governments from different countries to sit together and see how we can create ease of access and ease of connectivity. Let us work with the airlines to see how the government can give incentives to airlines to be able to ease connectivity.”

Noorani also called for the establishment of effective convention bureaus to bid for international events as the private sector works to improve facilities.

Kezy Mukiri, founder of Africa MICE Hub and convener of the summit, said growth in the MICE industry would catalyse trade in the region, as every meeting hosted in a destination brings knowledge, commercial transactions, business opportunities and promotes the destination.

She also called for the establishment of convention bureaus dedicated to marketing destinations for MICE tourism.

“It has got the skill set, the people who understand destination marketing from a MICE perspective, and Kenya needs to fast-track its initiatives towards setting up a convention bureau,” said Mukiri.

She noted that South Africa, Morocco and Rwanda attract the highest numbers of meetings because they have convention bureaus in place to bid for international events.

“We do need to fast-track the process of having and operationalising a convention bureau for Kenya. In addition, it is about building an ecosystem. It is not just growing individual hotels or individual event companies,” stated the summit convener.

Mombasa County Executive Committee Member for Trade, Tourism and Culture Mohammed Osman said the country’s target of five million tourists would remain a pipe dream if the MICE sector does not grow.

“This summit will be a game changer not only in terms of bringing tourists here to Mombasa but also in making sure that the impact of this summit is felt even after these conferences,” stated Osman.

Havar Bauck, founder of HotelOnline, said Moi International Airport is due for an upgrade to attract more tourists and direct flights.

“That airport is years, if not decades, overdue for an upgrade. Mombasa deserves a proper new terminal and probably even an additional runway to be able to accommodate large international flights and the infrastructure to be able to receive thousands and even tens of thousands of conference guests,” he said.

He also called for a reduction in airfares to attract more MICE tourists to the country, noting that airfare from New York to London is cheaper compared with that from London to Nairobi.

 by Sadik Hassan