Tourism needs three years to recover

East Africa Affairs, Commerce and Tourism Cabinet Secretary Mrs Phyllis Kandie with Dr Taleb Rifai, the Director General World Tourism Organization at Serena Hotel in Nairobi on April 25, 2015. PHOTO | WILLIAM OERI | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• According to the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers Coast branch executive officer, Sam Ikwaye, everyone who relies on tourism is now feeling the pinch.
• Experts have urged the government to focus on traditional European markets, which have supported Kenya’s Coast. “Few of them have actual travel warnings such as the UK.
• The board in March this year announced it would set aside over Sh140 million for global advertisement campaigns.

By YVONE KAWIRA
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Kenya’s tourism will take up to three years to recover from the current slowdown caused by insecurity and travel advisories.

It is expected to be back on its feet in 2018 after the next general elections.

“The industry will take two-three years to recover. This year is already struggling after the Garissa attack,” Kenya Tourism Federation chief executive Agatha Juma said.

According to the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers Coast branch executive officer, Sam Ikwaye, everyone who relies on tourism is now feeling the pinch.

“We are terribly concerned; The earliest we can recover is in 2018 because in 2016, the country will be warming up to elections for 2017, so the earliest we can see signs of recovery is 2018, that is if all goes well,” Mr Ikwaye said.

Experts have urged the government to focus on traditional European markets, which have supported Kenya’s Coast. “Few of them have actual travel warnings such as the UK. Germany, for instance, with the largest population and spending power, is the only country for now still running charters to Mombasa all year round,” said Mr Chris Modigell, a former committee member of the tourism recovery task force.

Scheduled flights to Mombasa from traditional source markets are from Turkey via Istanbul and Ethiopia via Addis Ababa and are shared with Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar.

The Kenya Tourism Board has allocated Sh15 million to be channelled towards charter airline promotions to improve traffic to the destination.

The board in March this year announced it would set aside over Sh140 million for global advertisement campaigns.

“The campaigns will showcase our diversity mostly in key source markets in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and the rest of the potential markets to Kenya,” board managing director Muriithi Ndegwa said in Berlin.

However, a month later the country was hit by another image-denting nightmare — the Garissa University College attack that claimed more than 140 lives which brought tourism to its knees.
It has since been struggling to save face and reassure potential visitors in a bid to get them to come.

The recently released 2015 Economic Survey placed 2014 tourist arrival figures at 11.1 per cent lower compared with 2013. This was, however, disputed by the industry which said the situation is much worse than depicted by the report.