National carrier Kenya Airways has been nominated in five categories in this year’s prestigious World Travel Awards for the African region.
World Travel Awards (WTA) serves to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the global travel and tourism industry.
The five categories Kenya Airways has been nominated in are Africa’s Leading Airline; Africa’s Leading Airline (Business Class); Africa’s Leading Airline (Economy Class); Africa’s Leading Airline Brand and Africa’s Leading Inflight Magazine (Msafiri) in 2024.
Voting closes on September 8, 2024.
WTA was established in 1993 and the brand is today recognised globally as the ultimate hallmark of quality, with winners setting the benchmark to which all others aspire.
Each year, WTA covers the globe with a series of regional gala ceremonies staged to recognise and celebrate individual and collective success within each key geographical region.
The African awards come after the closure of the World, Europe, Caribbean, Central America, Indian Ocean, Middle East, North America, South America, Asia and Oceania award ceremonies.
The WTA Asia and Oceania Gala Ceremony has been scheduled to be held in September in the Philippines.
The first-ever ceremony in the Philippines will welcome travel and tourism figureheads for the red-carpet WTA Gala Awards in the Capital Manila.
Other regional ceremonies on the WTA Grand Tour 2024 include Berlin (Germany), Dubai (UAE), Saint Vincent & The Grenadines, and Diani Beach (Kenya).
“The winners of these regional ceremonies will progress to the Grand Final in Madeira (Portugal) at the end of the year when the winners of the prestigious World categories will be unveiled,” WTA said.
WTA gala ceremonies are widely regarded as the best networking opportunities in the travel industry, attended by government and industry leaders, luminaries and international print and broadcast media.
KQ’s nomination to this year’s awards comes on the backdrop of impressive performance having bounced back to profitability after ten years to post Sh513 million net profit.
The national carrier attributed the growth to its strategic turnaround plan, Project Kifaru, which focuses on customer obsession, operational excellence, financial discipline, innovation, and sustainability.
In the six months to June 30, 2024, KQ’s total income rose by 22 per cent year-over-year to Sh91.49 billion while total operating costs decreased by 22 per cent to Sh90.20 billion, contributing to a 30 per cent increase in operating profit, which reached Sh1.30 billion.
“Our financial results are a clear indication that our strategic initiatives are delivering the desired outcomes,” KQ chief operating officer Allan Kilavuka said.
