The Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) has formed a strategic partnership with Visa to bolster the country’s tourism industry by integrating Visa’s expertise in digital payments and data analytics. This collaboration aims to improve the overall visitor experience, enhance tourism spending, and utilize data-driven marketing strategies to boost Kenya’s position as a top travel destination.
The partnership, announced on September 8th, 2025, focuses on leveraging Visa’s global payment solutions and data insights to promote tourism growth in Kenya. Visa will provide KTB with access to its Government Insights Hub (VGIH), an advanced analytics platform that offers real-time data on travel patterns, spending behaviors, and tourist preferences. This information will allow KTB to develop targeted marketing campaigns and enhance the effectiveness of tourism initiatives across the country.
KTB’s Ag. CEO, Allan Njoroge, emphasized that the partnership will help to streamline payment systems across various tourist touchpoints, improving accessibility for visitors and facilitating smoother transactions. Njoroge highlighted that the collaboration is timely, providing KTB with the necessary tools to understand how tourists spend, enabling more efficient allocation of resources and more precise marketing strategies.
One of the key advantages of the partnership is the ability to track and address revenue leakages caused by payment disruptions. Njoroge noted that cross-border payment issues often hinder tourists’ spending potential and that this collaboration would help resolve those challenges. By turning data into actionable insights, KTB will be able to better monitor and manage revenue flows, ensuring that visitors can enjoy seamless and hassle-free transactions.
Visa’s Government Insights Hub will play a crucial role in guiding KTB’s marketing efforts. The platform provides real-time analytics that reveal important details such as peak travel seasons, regional preferences, and consumer spending habits. With this intelligence, KTB will be able to refine its marketing efforts, identify key source markets, and develop tourism products tailored to different traveler segments.
Chad Pollock, Visa’s Vice President and General Manager for East Africa, expressed confidence in the partnership’s potential to make Kenya a leader in innovative tourism solutions. Pollock emphasized that, by leveraging local insights, the partnership would create practical solutions that empower small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism sector. Visa’s goal is to ensure that digital payments are seamlessly integrated across various travel touchpoints, offering convenience for tourists while driving growth for local businesses.
The partnership between KTB and Visa comes at a time when technology is increasingly reshaping the travel experience. Visa’s report on travel trends highlights the growing importance of AI-driven personalized itineraries, contactless payments, and mobile check-ins—features that are now fundamental expectations for modern travelers, particularly among Generation Z. This demographic, projected to account for 30% of global trips by 2030, already has significant purchasing power, with 67% of them making monthly e-commerce purchases while traveling.
The surge in cross-border transactions, which reached 771 million between June 2023 and June 2024, further underscores the need for reliable, globally accepted payment methods. This growing demand presents a $250 trillion opportunity in cross-border payments, signaling a vital need for more accessible and secure payment solutions for international travelers.
In addition to enhancing payment solutions, Visa will also support KTB with capacity-building initiatives to ensure the board can fully leverage digital tools for tourism growth. This includes providing training and resources to help KTB staff use data analytics and digital payment tools effectively to enhance the visitor experience and improve operational efficiency.
Through this partnership, KTB and Visa are working together to create a more digitally connected and efficient tourism ecosystem in Kenya. By improving payment accessibility, utilizing data insights, and addressing cross-border payment issues, the collaboration will help Kenya attract more tourists and boost the overall economy by promoting tourism spending.
The partnership with Visa marks an exciting step forward for Kenya’s tourism industry, with both KTB and Visa committed to enhancing the travel experience for tourists and increasing tourism revenues. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, this collaboration will ensure that Kenya remains at the forefront of innovative, data-driven solutions in the global tourism sector.
Photo: Kenya Tourism Board
