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Six and a half decade old travel management company, Express Travel Group (ETG) has rebranded to Hemingways Travel. An IATA accredited Travel Management Company (TMC), Hemingways Travel is globally affiliated with Travel Leaders Group, North America's largest Travel Agency Organisation that currently represents more than 52,000 travel advisors worldwide and ranks as one of the industry's largest travel agency companies. Headquartered in New York City and active around the globe, the extensive network assists travelers all around the world.

Speaking during the rebrand announcement held at Aspire Centre located in Nairobi’s Westlands district, Hemingways Group CEO Ross Evans says the rebrand and related investment is in response to emerging opportunities for growth and the need to enhance the travelers experience at a time when travel is experiencing unprecedented disruption and changes in needs. To drive the new strategy, former Hemingways Group Finance Director, Dr Joseph Kithitu, has been appointed the new Managing Director of Hemingways Travel.

Latest statistics from the Ministry of Tourism indicate that the tourism industry has registered growth and contributed to a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 10.4 per cent and employed 990, 000 people.  Despite being one of the hardest-hit industries in the wake of COVID-19, Kenya’s tourism earnings grew by 65.4 per cent to Sh146.51 billion in 2021 compared to Sh88.56 billion in 2020. This has been credited to the implementation of various interventions by the government to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the sector, including a focus on domestic tourism. This reflects the increasing prevalence and investment in domestic tourism in Kenya. According to Statista, the travel and tourism market is forecast to grow at an annual growth rate of 10.47 per cent up to 2026.

“In Kenya we look in the rear-view mirror, but don’t look at how we should go forward. I believe the revenues in 2022 will surpass our 2019 statistics. It is important to note that the domestic market is resilient and dynamic,” stated CS Balala who was present at the rebrand.

As part of the process, Mr Evans said, Hemingways Travel will expand its offering to the leisure market to the level it has become renowned for in the corporate travel market as well as leveraging its operations as a premium inbound destination management company.

“We remain very focused on delivering for our corporate travel clients and are now expanding our proposition to leisure travelers by offering a full suite of premium travel services and the valuable benefits of using an experienced travel agent, something that, we believe, has become more important as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic,” said Mr. Evans.

He noted that Hemingways Travel clients can now adapt to the changing demands of travel by taking advantage of new technologies that will enhance the traveler experience and offer complete peace of mind.

“It is commendable that you have taken up the challenge to rebrand and make changes to your product despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic. These are the changes that the ministry is pushing for so that we diversify the things we would like to offer our visitors,” added the CS.

According to the Annual Tourism Sector Performance Report 2021, new vision strategies such as digitisation have supported sector recovery and Hemingways Travel has made significant enhancements to its platform to meet changing industry needs.

“Hemingways Travel is using technology to drive our new strategy and our new online booking tool is one example.  The booking platform integrates third-party tools to bring unrivaled flight and hotel content to customers and a smooth and convenient booking experience all supported by an experienced team of qualified travel consultants”, said Dr Kithitu.

Hemingways Travel is a proud member of Hemingways Hospitality Limited, diversified luxury hospitality, real estate, and travel management group that caters primarily to the leisure and corporate travel segments providing luxury hotel accommodation through Hemingways Collection and high-end residential real estate through Hemingways Residences.