W@ssup

The Magical Kenya Open (MKO) is one of the country’s calendar events, with a history dating back to 1967 and appeared on the European Tour’s schedule for the first time in 2019. This year’s edition will mark the first time the European Tour has visited the prestigious Muthaiga Golf Club during an event that offers an opportunity to market the destination’s tourism offerings to the world through international participants. It is for this reason that on the side-lines of the tournament which runs between March 3 and 6, 2022, destination marketer Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) took the opportunity to immerse the European Tour players and teams with a safari at the Nairobi National Park.

South African golfer Zander Lombard was jazzed by the conducive weather, terming it “a plus” to Kenya as a golfing destination. “The beautiful weather, scenery, great nature, and beautiful landscape is what keeps me coming to Kenya every year,” he said, after enjoying the dawn two-hour game drive at the park. Another frequent visitor, Dutch professional golfer Daan Huizing, could not hold back his joy, “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 expressed her joy for the opportunity to invite some of the golfers for a familiarisation trip so as to let them have a taste of Kenya’s tourism, adding that they intend to 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,” she said.

Dr Radier noted that that this year’s competition was more important because it gave an opportunity to showcase our 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. 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 last year.