Nairobi, April 6 -- Kenya is courting cruise ship passengers with safari stopovers, betting that seamless links from port to game parks can grow tourism numbers.

The Tourism ministry has been looking to increase the number of cruise ship travellers, an emerging luxury market currently dominated by South Africa.

South Africa has successfully integrated cruise tourism with its top attractions. A cruise passenger, for instance, can disembark at V&A Waterfront and join excursions of riding in a cable car up the Table Mountain, and later do wine tastings in different vineyards or quad biking at the Atlantis Desert.

Rebecca Miano, the Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, launched the cruise-to-park initiative a few weeks ago.

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