NAIROBI (AFP) -- Kenya's tourism revenues rose by 15 percent in 2006, officials said Wednesday, attributing the rise to aggressive marketing in foreign markets.

The Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) chief, Ong'ong'a Achieng, said the end-year earnings rose to 56.2 billion shillings (799.2 million dollars, 617 million euros) from 48.9 shillings (695.3 million dollars, 536.8 million euros) in 2005. "This growth is attributed mainly to the improved air capacity provided by most major airlines flying into the destination and the aggressive marketing campaign implemented in new and traditional source markets," he told a press conference

The number of visitors in 2006 increased by 10 percent to 1.8 million compared to 1.6 million last year, the board said.

In August last year, the state-run board launched a marketing campaign in Australia, Britain and North America, notably fronting the country's exotic wildlife, sun-baked beaches and inland safaris.

Officials said they expected this year's revenue to climb further, fuelled by last year's estimation by U.S. television network ABC and USA Today newspaper that the "great migration" of wild beasts between Kenya's Maasai Mara and neighboring Tanzania's Serengeti Plains was a "seventh wonder" of the world.

The survey by the two U.S. media outlets boosted the country's tourism profile in the United States.

In addition, plans by Britain-based airline Virgin Atlantic to launch daily flights from London to the Kenyan capital Nairobi in June could herald a boom in the number of visitors, they said.

The board projected a 10 percent growth in the sector in 2007.