Tourism players in Mombasa have questioned President Uhuru Kenyatta's directives to boost the sector, terming it unrealistic.
Speaking
during a stakeholders meeting at Nyali Beach Hotel, Kenya Association
for Hotel-keepers and Caterers (KAHC) chief executive officer Mike
Macharia said Government needed to have a flexible tourism policy.
“Part
of the proposals that we have made and we want to push is on top of the
landing fee waiver is a situation whereby we have an open side policy
for Mombasa that will enable more people to come in,” He said.
Mr
Macharia insisted that if there are more flights coming in, Kenya would
have more tourists and this would also be made better if the negative
travel advisories are lifted.
“There is a 40 per cent
landing fee which is attractive, it can only work if the ban is lifted.
If I went to the UK, the clients may not likely come even with the low
landing fee for flights.
The CEO told the press that
the proposal on outstanding income tax-related refunds owed to the
tourism industry players to be paid out by Kenya Revenue Authority was
null and void.
He said very few players owed KRA and therefore nobody would really benefit.
The
only promising move for the industry was the directive allowing the
public sector to hold conferences and meetings in private hotels
throughout the country, he added.
LAY OFF WORKERS
KAHC
Executive Director Sam Ikweya Wednesday said that they have had to lay
off their workers earlier than expected despite this being a low season
for the industry.
“We are still feeling the effect of
the travel advisories and some of our members have had to lay off their
staff; this has come right at the time of the low season between May and
July. We usually go through this cycle but we are seeing a situation
where we have started it much earlier,” He said.
Mr
Ikwaye appealed to the United Kingdom, France Australia and the United
States of America to re-look at the position of the travel advisory
reviews. “If things change we will easily recall all our staff,” he
added.
He said there was dire need to address the issue
of insecurity in the country, lifting of the travel bans and also
diversify tourism products in the country.
Mr Ikwaye
said the incentives that were announced by the President cannot replace
the number of tourists lost following the travel advisories.
He
advised that the industry players needed to look at the areas that they
can make quick gains like reduced park and aircraft landing fees
especially for Moi International airport and the revoked National
Treasury Circular that restricted the public service from holding
conferences and other meetings in private hotels.
Mr
Ikwaye acknowledged that more than 20 hotels in Malindi, Watamu and
Kilifi and five others in Diani, South Coast, had closed down.
The
players in the industry said that the country needs medium and a long
term plan in ensuring that Kenya welcomes three million tourists
annually as envisaged in the country's economic blue print Vision 2030.
“We
should not abandon the vision, even after this crisis is over which we
believe will come to pass, we need a medium or long term plan so that we
can cushion ourselves in future for recurrent crisis,” Mr Macharia
said.
Last week, President Kenyatta revoked a circular
restricting the Public Service from holding conferences and other
meetings in private hotels.
He also said private companies would get tax relief on the money they spend on holidays for their staff.
The measures were meant to help the hotels overcome the challenges posed by the downturn in tourism.
Kenya
has also embarked on an aggressive online marketing campaign to lure
more tourists from various parts of the world, including China, and to
counter the negative publicity generated by the advisories and recent
grenade attacks targeting the country.
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