Tourism promo budget cut on lack of marketing plan

Politics and policy

Tourism earnings fell 7.3 per cent last year, weakened by a decline in arrivals. PHOTO | FILE 

By NEVILLE OTUKI

Parliament has cut the marketing budget for the troubled tourism sector by half a billion shillings due to lack of a proper strategy.

The parliamentary Budget Committee directed the Treasury to reduce the Sh7.1 billion set aside for tourism promotion for the year starting July and instead channel the Sh500 million to the construction of the delayed Ronald Ngala Utalii College in Kilifi.  

“The earmarked Sh6 billion is too high considering that there are no strategies in place currently,” the Finance and Trade Committee said in an advisory to the Budget team asking for the budget to be reduced by Sh800 million. But the Budget team cut the allocation by Sh500 million.

The Sh6 billion had been allocated in the supplementary budget before Treasury increased it to Sh7.1 billion as Kenya prepared to battle the crippling effects of several travel alerts issue last year following a spate of terror attacks in key towns that serve as holiday getaways.

The reduction is set to anger hoteliers who blame the government for doing little to give the ailing sector a much needed shot in the arm. Before its downturn, the sector employed about 150,000 people.

Tourism earnings fell 7.3 per cent last year, weakened by a decline in arrivals.

The marketing budget will help launch a marketing offensive in Western capitals in an effort to woo tourists back to the palm-fringed beaches at the Coast and sprawling game parks.

READ: No recovery for Kenya tourism until 2018

The ministry of East African Community, Commerce and Tourism last month appointed UK-based firm Grayling PR to promote the country’s tourism sector in Europe which is the country’s largest source market.

But Parliament has asked the Tourism ministry to launch a marketing campaign in top Western media houses.

“Frantic efforts should be made to advertise Kenya as an ideal tourism destination within the CNN and BBC networks,” recommended the Finance and Trade team.

The government cites terror attacks, travel advisories and the spread of Ebola in West African nations as factors that have led to the sector’s dwindling fortunes.

Following last year’s terrorist attacks, Britain, the US, France and Australia issued travel warnings to their citizens which saw a decline in tourist numbers and led to the closure of more than 40 hotels at the Coast due to low bed occupancy.

Others like luxury Heritage Group hotel, which is owned by the Kenyatta family, have seen management and staff take pay cuts of between 20 to 30 per cent to avoid layoffs.

Besides hotels, tourists support auxiliary sectors like handicraft makers, taxi business, fishermen and farmers have also been affected.