Your Kenyan Passport Can Take You to Barbados, No Visa Required
Viutravel has partnered with Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. to bring the Caribbean island to Kenyan travellers, starting with a Food and Rum Festival getaway in November.
For many Kenyans, the hardest part of planning an overseas holiday is the visa. For Barbados, there isn’t one.
Kenyans can enter the island visa-free and stay for up to six months. Now Viutravel and Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) want to turn that access into real trips.
The partnership was signed in Nairobi by Kyle Gittens, BTMI’s director of markets for Africa and the Middle East, and Viutravel’s Kui Muriithi. It is the first destination under Viutravel’s Power of the Kenyan Passport campaign, which shows Kenyan travellers where their passport can take them without the usual paperwork headache.
“When you visit Barbados, you feel like you’re home away from home,” Gittens said at the recent Magical Kenya Travel Expo, where he spoke of the warmth and shared culinary influences between Kenya and the island.
Getting there
There are no direct flights from Kenya yet, and routes through the UK or US require transit visas. BTMI says that during the winter season, from October to April, KLM’s route via Amsterdam offers a visa-free option. Viutravel’s package is built around that routing, so travellers do not have to work it out on their own.
A taste of the island
The first package centres on the Barbados Food and Rum Festival this November, a celebration of Bajan cooking, rum heritage and island entertainment. The island is known for dishes such as flying fish and cou-cou, and it is often described as the birthplace of rum, so a festival built around both is a natural draw.
The Viutravel Barbados Food and Rum Package includes:
Return flights from Nairobi
Airport transfers
Accommodation
A catamaran cruise
Festival tickets
Prices start from USD 5,140 per person sharing.
More than a festival
Beyond the festival, Barbados offers white-sand beaches, calm Caribbean waters and a food scene that is worth the trip on its own. BTMI says arrivals from Africa and the Gulf region rose 38 per cent year-on-year between January and September this year, a sign that the island is looking to Africa as a growing source of visitors.
“Through Power of the Kenyan Passport, we want every Kenyan to know which destinations are open to them visa-free. But knowing isn’t enough, so we work with partners like BTMI to make the journey simple, from the route to the experiences, so travellers can simply enjoy the island,” said Kui Muriithi, Head of Marketing and Operations, Viutravel.