Kenya Opens the North Rift as a New Circuit While Betting Big on AI Tourism Tools

Kenya is reshaping the way it sells itself to the world. The Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife has begun packaging and digitising the country's tourism products so they can be found easily by travellers who now research, compare and book almost entirely through their phones and online platforms.

Speaking in Uasin Gishu County during Kenya's World Tourism Day 2026 celebrations, Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano said the change in traveller behaviour has made digital technology and Artificial Intelligence essential to the country's competitiveness. The event was held under the global theme "Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism."

"Today's traveller is increasingly using a smartphone, digital platforms and online tools to discover destinations, compare experiences and make travel decisions," Miano said. "This means that we must redesign how we showcase Kenya and ensure that our destinations, experiences and tourism products are visible, accessible and relevant in the digital spaces where travellers are making those decisions."

Two initiatives were singled out as examples of this new direction. Safari Live, built in partnership with Wildlife Earth, streams Kenya's wildlife and landscapes to audiences around the world, turning passive viewers into potential visitors. Tembea Kenya, meanwhile, profiles destinations and experiences across the country and has become a key driver of domestic travel, a market that continues to cushion operators during slower international seasons.

The Cabinet Secretary placed particular emphasis on young Kenyans as partners in this transformation. Their digital fluency, creative instincts and natural understanding of online audiences make them powerful destination ambassadors. "We are already working with young people, including influencers and digital content creators, as part of the wider effort to promote Kenya and make our tourism experiences more visible," she said. For agencies and operators across the region, this hints at a broader shift in marketing budgets, away from traditional channels and towards creators who can reach travellers where they already spend their attention.

Government efforts to lift the Kenyan brand abroad are also continuing, with Miano noting that the President's international engagements have contributed to the destination's rising profile.

Perhaps the most commercially interesting announcement came from Tourism Principal Secretary Amb. Prof. Julius Bitok, who used the occasion to position Uasin Gishu and the wider North Rift as an emerging tourism circuit. He pointed to Eldoret's city status, steadily improving road infrastructure and the region's famous sporting heritage as the foundations for a genuinely new product offering.

"It is time we fully opened up this tourism circuit," Bitok said. "There is huge potential in this region, with Eldoret's city status and improving road infrastructure making it increasingly accessible to visitors. We also need to profile the region for sports tourism. I urge investors and tourism operators to continue improving and diversify the region's tourism products to make them more competitive and attractive to visitors."

The timing matters. The 2029 World Athletics Championships, confirmed for Kenya, will place global attention on the home of the world's greatest distance runners. Bitok said the event offers a rare chance to link international sport with tourism experiences spread across the North Rift. Operators who begin building packages now, combining training camps, high-altitude running routes, cultural encounters and the region's natural attractions, will be well positioned when demand arrives.

The celebrations capped a week-long programme that profiled Uasin Gishu's sports tourism potential alongside its cultural and natural assets. World Tourism Day is marked worldwide on 27 September each year to recognise tourism's role in economic, social and cultural development.

For the African travel trade, the message from Eldoret is twofold. Destinations that fail to appear in AI-driven search and planning tools risk becoming invisible, no matter how beautiful they are. And secondary circuits, long overlooked in favour of established safari routes, are now where fresh commercial opportunity is quietly taking shape.