I
am currently in Nairobi, working and visiting sites and museums around the
city, but in the past week an estimated 900 tourists cut short their vacation to Kenya. With the recent incidents of violence in Nairobi and Mombasa in
Kenya, most recently on Friday May 16, some tourists have left early and some
potential tourists have cancelled their holiday plans.
The
Kenya Tourism Foundation estimates that the tourism industry will lose over $50
million between May and October 2014 – the prime tourist season. Obviously the
government is encouraging tourists to remain for their holiday and to continue
with their travel plans in the region.
Each
year an estimated 1.5 million tourists come to Kenya, from the following main countries,
according to the Sunday Nation (May 25, 2014): United Kingdom (200,000),
America (107,800), Italy (87,790), Germany (63,000), and France (50,000). In
addition 11,700 Chinese visitors arrived in Kenya in 2013 (2.8% of all
arrivals) – an increasing market for the Kenyan tourism industry.
The
overall 2013 tourist numbers were 16% lower than in 2012, due in part to the
Westgate shopping complex tragedy in September 2013.
The Sunday Nation article,
by Nic Cheeseman, Director of the African Studies Centre at Oxford University, maintains
that the greatest challenge in the country is to “develop a more credible and
effective plan for tackling terrorism” – which involves improved information of
threats, as well as critical action, but it takes time.
In
the meantime, Cheeseman suggested three ways the Government of Kenya can
mitigate further downward trends in the tourism industry. These include: (1) develop
a more effective advertising campaign to attract tourists, (2) suspend the 16%
value added tax (VAT) imposed on the tourism sector – which would decrease
costs and attract more travellers, and (3) pursue a policy of stronger regional
infrastructure with its neighbouring countries throughout East Africa to
encourage a common visa to reduce red-tape and promote more fluidity of
movement.
In the past week the government suggested incentives for Kenyans to increase
their domestic travel and holidays in their own country – but the return of international
tourists is essential to boost the tourism industry to, at least, its former
numbers.
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