Politics and policy 20 coast hotels shut on low bookings Share Bookmark Print Rating Tourists at a Mombasa hotel. International arrivals in Kenya fell 15.8 per cent to 1.49 million last year as security worries kept visitors away. PHOTO | FILE Tourists at a Mombasa hotel. International arrivals in Kenya fell 15.8 per cent to 1.49 million last year as security worries kept visitors away. PHOTO | FILE By SANDRA CHAO-BLASTO Posted Tuesday, August 19 2014 at 21:02 In Summary Travel warnings have cut the occupancy level at the coast to below 20 per cent during the high-season, which starts in July, when hotels operating at more 90 per cent. The hotels say they need bed occupancy of between 60 and 70 per cent to break even. Industry players reckon that the government is not doing enough in engaging with the western nations to review the advisories. More than 20 hotels at the Coast have closed down since May and shed thousands of jobs as security fears pushed bed occupancy to a record low. SHARE THIS STORY 0 inShare The Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Education Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (Kudhehia) Tuesday said 15 hotels have closed in North Coast and five in Kwale as effects of travel warnings issued in May by Britain, the United States, France and Australia continue to bite. The travel warnings were issued following a string of gun and grenade assaults that have hit Nairobi and the coastal resorts of Mombasa and Lamu. This has cut the occupancy level at the coast to below 20 per cent during the high-season, which starts in July, when hotels operating at more 90 per cent. The hotels say they need bed occupancy of between 60 and 70 per cent to break even. “Two hotels were closed down in Malindi at the beginning of this month bringing the total of hotels closed since May,” said Albert Njeru the secretary general of Kudhehia at a press conference Tuesday attended by the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers ( KAHC). “We need the government to take this matter seriously and address issues of security and travel advisories so that our members can also be motivated,” he said. The 20 hotels add to a similar number that also closed shop in the three months to May, reflecting the poor state of a sector that is one of Kenya’s top foreign exchange earner and support auxiliary sectors like handicraft makers, taxi drivers, fishermen and farmers at the coast. READ: Terror attacks crush Kenya’s coastal tourism industry “This means an additional loss of business for the coast till at least the last quarter of 2015,” said Jaideep Vohra, the chair of KAHC and managing director of Sarova Hotels, which runs the Whitesands, the Stanley and Panafric, in a statement. “We are currently in the peak season but if you go anywhere in the country you will still find beds.” He added that two charter flights last week issued notice to discontinue flights to Kenya in addition to the famed Thompson’s Charter that pulled out in May in the wake of the advisories’. The players reckon that the government is not doing enough in engaging with the western nations to review the advisories. Kenya has in the past rebuked Britain, the United States, France and Australia for issuing the warnings about travel to Kenya. Kenya called the alerts “unfriendly”, saying they would increase panic and play into the hands of those behind the gun and grenade assaults. Tourist arrivals in Kenya fell 15.8 per cent to 1.49 million last year as security worries kept visitors away.

Politics and policy

Tourists at a Mombasa hotel. International arrivals in Kenya fell 15.8 per cent to 1.49 million last year as security worries kept visitors away. PHOTO | FILE 

By SANDRA CHAO-BLASTO

In Summary

• Travel warnings have cut the occupancy level at the coast to below 20 per cent during the high-season, which starts in July, when hotels operating at more 90 per cent.
• The hotels say they need bed occupancy of between 60 and 70 per cent to break even.
• Industry players reckon that the government is not doing enough in engaging with the western nations to review the advisories.

More than 20 hotels at the Coast have closed down since May and shed thousands of jobs as security fears pushed bed occupancy to a record low.

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The Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Education Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (Kudhehia) Tuesday said 15 hotels have closed in North Coast and five in Kwale as effects of travel warnings issued in May by Britain, the United States, France and Australia continue to bite.

The travel warnings were issued following a string of gun and grenade assaults that have hit Nairobi and the coastal resorts of Mombasa and Lamu.

This has cut the occupancy level at the coast to below 20 per cent during the high-season, which starts in July, when hotels operating at more 90 per cent. The hotels say they need bed occupancy of between 60 and 70 per cent to break even.

“Two hotels were closed down in Malindi at the beginning of this month bringing the total of hotels closed since May,” said Albert Njeru the secretary general of Kudhehia at a press conference Tuesday attended by the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers ( KAHC).

“We need the government to take this matter seriously and address issues of security and travel advisories so that our members can also be motivated,” he said.

The 20 hotels add to a similar number that also closed shop in the three months to May, reflecting the poor state of a sector that is one of Kenya’s top foreign exchange earner and support auxiliary sectors like handicraft makers, taxi drivers, fishermen and farmers at the coast.

READ: Terror attacks crush Kenya’s coastal tourism industry

“This means an additional loss of business for the coast till at least the last quarter of 2015,” said Jaideep Vohra, the chair of KAHC and managing director of Sarova Hotels, which runs the Whitesands, the Stanley and Panafric, in a statement.

“We are currently in the peak season but if you go anywhere in the country you will still find beds.” He added that two charter flights last week issued notice to discontinue flights to Kenya in addition to the famed Thompson’s Charter that pulled out in May in the wake of the advisories’.

The players reckon that the government is not doing enough in engaging with the western nations to review the advisories.

Kenya has in the past rebuked Britain, the United States, France and Australia for issuing the warnings about travel to Kenya.

Kenya called the alerts “unfriendly”, saying they would increase panic and play into the hands of those behind the gun and grenade assaults.

Tourist arrivals in Kenya fell 15.8 per cent to 1.49 million last year as security worries kept visitors away.