Kenya's tourism markets have embarked on a four-city road shows in China to woo tourists as the East African nation pursues the Asian nation as one of the leading emerging markets.

Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) said its leading 11 companies from Kenya's tourism industry in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou for a five-day marketing drive which kicked off on Monday.

"This opportunity will offer a business networking forum for both the Chinese and Kenyan travel trade aimed at increasing the penetration, awareness and distribution of Kenya's rich and diverse tourism products in the China market," KTB said in a statement received in Nairobi on Tuesday.

"This is the second road show that KTB is organizing in the China market. The market has shown considerable growth over the years with a growth of over 20 percent per year since 2006," it said.

The arrivals from China by the end of 2011 were at 37,400, growing by 10.3 percent to 41,300 by the end of 2012. By mid 2013 almost half of the same number had been received.

Officials from the KTB and tour operators have in the recent past been on a campaign blitz to market Kenya in China through media promotions across major Chinese cities.

Famous for its characteristic savanna safaris, Kenya is a country of dramatic extremes and classic contrasts.

KTB has attributed the remarkable record in growth of Chinese visitors in the past few years to the aggressive marketing by KTB which has continued to focus more on consumer awareness programs both on line such as through Weibo as well as in consumer events.

A robust growth of the Chinese economy even in the face of the recent global downturn has placed the Asian nation on the radar screen of nations such as Kenya that are keen on growing their earnings from tourism.

In 2008, Kenya Airways introduced direct services to Guangzhou and has been expanding the route with other airlines such as Emirates to connect the two countries through their hubs.

Africa is still untapped and many Chinese companies are introducing their products in Kenya and setting up branch offices in Kenya.

"This is an opportunity in addition to the appealing tourism product that KTB is leveraging on and indeed putting in more resources to the emerging markets like Chine and India," KTB said.