I turned my passion for adventure into a vibrant tour venture

In recent years, reports from the Ministry of Tourism have indicated a steady growth in domestic tourism—with a slight drop of course in 2020-2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In essence, these reports show that more Kenyans are taking time to explore and enjoy the beauty of our land through leisure travels.

Such reports spark a smile on Vanish Moraa, founder of Mohrale Tours, which is just about to mark its fifth birthday since its inception.

“I have always enjoyed travelling, there is something refreshing about seeing new places and experiences. The idea to start a tours and travel company occurred to me when I was in my second year of study at Moi University. Together with a few friends, also travel enthusiasts, we wanted to champion a culture of touring new places and make the travel dreams of local tourists come true.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Moraa began laying out the plans for 2018 to start the company. She defined her market scope by targeting the North Rift region.

“I had some savings and was able to raise about Sh100,000 as starting capital to set up an office and register the business. Thankfully, the nature of the business didn’t need so much capital being a service industry so the amount was enough to get us started.”

Since then, Morhale Tours, based in Eldoret town, has grown in terms of staffing and services offered. It offers air ticketing services, group tours, holiday packages and corporate team-building packages among others. It has a staff of six comprising tour consultants, tour drivers, team building facilitators and the marketing team.
“Most of our customer base is from the North Rift region. These involve the people who love travelling and the desire to explore more destinations both within and outside the country.”

Social media factor

One open secret to Moraa’s success so far has been using social media to market the company. Posting photos, offers, videos and promotions On Facebook and Instagram.

“We have invested a lot in social media marketing, and influencer marketing and the effort is paying off. Secondly, we get a lot of referrals from clients who are satisfied with our services and this has helped us grow the client base.”

At the moment, the company rakes in about Sh500,000 per month on average and this goes to salaries and utility bills. Moraa hopes to purchase her own tour vans in the next phase of the company’s growth to cater for the rising number of sports tourists in the region. At the moment, she hires vans whenever a large group needs touring services.

“We are still growing towards the vision of our company. There’s more to this region besides visiting Maasai Mara and we want people to come and explore the richness of this landscape. We want them to come and see the beautiful giraffes and many other wild animals, nature reserves and hidden gems spread across this region,” Moraa says excitedly. 

Local and international tourism

In the next five years or so, the inspiring entrepreneur hopes to have a fully-fledged tours company with enough capacity to facilitate local and international tourism.

“At the moment, we have a focus on local destinations but that will definitely change in the coming years as we grow to reach new horizons. We to go international and I am hopeful this can be achieved in the next decade tops.”

Despite Moraa’s palpable passion for travel and a warm reception to the market, her company’s growth and stability hasn’t been a walk in the park. She notes the greatest challenge she faced was when Covid-19 rocked the country and the lockdown got effected.

“Travel bans literally brought the business to a halt and we were hit hard. The company was still young; we were starting to find our footing when the pandemic hit. But we made it through and are steadily on the path to recovery.”

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