Terror attacks crush Kenya’s coastal tourism industry

Corporate News

Tourists at a Mombasa hotel. Travel advisories have hurt Kenya’s tourism sector, leading to the current marketing drive. Photo/FILE 

By JOSEPH BURITE, Bloomberg

In Summary

• Tourism, which generated more than Sh87 billion in foreign-currency earnings last year, is on its knees.
• Hotels are registering 40 per cent occupancy rates and half the usual bookings during the peak tourism season.
• A Sh200 million campaign launched in May to help attract more visitors has had limited impact.

As Robert Mutuku hangs ‘Out of Africa’ T-shirts in his craft shop in the port city of Mombasa, he worries that the scarcity of tourists because of Islamist-militant attacks may doom his chances of keeping his five children in school.

 

Mutuku, 47, has had to fire three people who made souvenirs at his workshop for the tourists who once crowded the alleys of the city’s Old Town to savour its spice aromas and admire its Portuguese and Islamic architecture. Now Mutuku is certain he won’t be able to fulfill the dream of his eldest daughter, Catherine Ndinya, 21, to attend college.

“I have spent three days without selling anything,” Mutuku said in a July 25 interview. “I already took a bank loan to send the others back to school this term. I don’t know what I’ll do next term.”

Tourism in Kenya, which generated more than $1 billion (Sh87 billion) in foreign-currency earnings for East Africa’s biggest economy last year, is on its knees. The impact has hit hardest on the coast, where as many as one million Kenyans depend on the industry to make a living, according to the Kenya Coast Tourism Association. Countries including the United Kingdom, United States and Australia have issued travel advisories warning their citizens not to travel to large parts of the coastal region.

TUI AG, the owner of Europe’s biggest tour operator, on July 4 extended its cancellation of all flights to Mombasa until April 30, after announcing in May that travel would be halted until October. Tourism is Kenya’s second-largest foreign-currency earner, after tea exports.

Rising violence

The number of incidents has been building. Unidentified gunmen shot dead a German woman and wounded her Ugandan companion last week while they were strolling in Mombasa. That followed the murder of a female Russian tourist in a similar attack on July 6. In the worst incident, violence claimed the lives of 60 residents of the coastal town of Mpeketoni in mid-June.

READ: Tour operators push for police escorts for tourists.

The situation along the coast is so bad that hotels are registering 40 per cent occupancy rates and half the usual bookings, even though July to September is the peak tourism season, Kenya Coast Tourism Association Chief Executive Officer Millicent Odhiambo said.

“Tourism is the backbone of coastal Kenya and we can’t do without international visitors,” she said in an interview.

The port of Mombasa, the largest in East Africa, is billed as the “only safari port in the world” where cruise liners can dock and passengers go on safari to game lodges before returning to sail off in one day. The insecurity has led cruise liners to steer clear, leaving the two berths that port managers have dedicated to handle them idle.

Cruise ships

“From a peak of 45 cruise ships a year in 2004, only three vessels called on Mombasa last year,” said Bernard Osero, head of corporate affairs at the Kenya Ports Authority. “This year, only four vessels have docked here and we don’t expect many in the coming months.”

The government, which targets annual tourist arrivals of ten million in a decade, compared with 1.4 million in 2013, announced a Sh200 million ($2.3 million) campaign in May to help attract more visitors, including domestic tourists. While that initiative has had some impact, it’s not enough, said Edward Andako, manager of Medina Palms Resort at Watamu Beach, about 90 kilometres north of Mombasa.

“Innovative products, especially unique water sports, do attract locals, but we are forced to give huge discounts to make it affordable,” said Andako, referring to sports including kite-surfing and snorkeling. “This makes it unsustainable. We need international tourists to stay in the game.”