Our strategy can align with existing Kenya Tourism Board circuits in Western and Eastern Kenya, increasing visibility for teagrowing regions. Importantly, tea and energy tourism could provide supplementary income for over 350,000 smallholder farmers, tapping into Kenya’ s KSh 4 billion annual tourism revenue.
Countries such as China and Vietnam have successfully embraced tea tourism. Kenya must do the same. A well-designed pilot programme, grounded in feasibility studies, will help assess market potential, infrastructure needs, community readiness, and environmental considerations.
KTDA has the structure, credibility, and partnerships to lead this transformation. Tea and energy tourism are not diversions; they are natural extensions of our role as stewards of land, livelihoods, and heritage.
The world already drinks our tea. It is time they came to see where it grows and meet the people who make it exceptional.
The writer is the Chairman of the Kenya Tea Development Agency( KTDA). tourism with energy tourism. We own over 12 hydropower plants in tea-growing regions, with several more under development. These cleanenergy assets already power our factories and reduce operational costs, while offering educational tourism experiences focused on sustainability, technology, and agriculture. This synergy could support ecolodges, forest-based tourism, conservation activities, and community employment.
OMOJOY TOURIST PRODUCT 77