Low funding angers tourism stakeholders

Tourism stakeholders have warned that the sector could take longer to recover.

This is after Treasury failed to allocate adequate resources for marketing and infrastructure improvement.

Key players said the Sh1.2 billion allocated to the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) by Finance Minister Njeru Githae, during his Budget Statement, was a drop in the ocean and it would be difficult to compete with other destinations.

The sector faces a myriad problems ranging from terrorism threats, crippling infrastructure, boycott of Mombasa port by international cruise liners owing to piracy in the western rim of the Indian Ocean and travel advisories.

“The Government has not shown its commitment to help jump-start the industry which is a core pillar of Kenya’s largest import oriented economy,’’ said Mr Mohamed Hersi, Mombasa and Coast Tourist Association chairman.

Budget allocation

He said KTB was allocated Sh1.2 billion for its marketing, Namibia allocates Sh450 million to market herself in the US market alone.

South Africa, Hersi added, allocates over Sh10 billion to market its diverse tourism products globally with a substantial chunk going to market the rainbow nation to the rest of Africa.

Hersi said introduction of incentives such as scrapping of visa fees for international tourists was not enough as long as the marketing component was underfunded.

“The prospects on international arrivals do not look good at all. Charter flights that bring in a bigger chunk of holidaymakers from key source market- Europe- have pulled out of the Mombasa route,’’ he said.

Jacaranda Indian Ocean Beach Resort, General Manager, Mr Gomeri Kombo, says tourist stakeholders should push for a round table meeting with the Government over inadequate budgetary allocation to market Kenya as tourist destination of choice.

Data obtained from KTB on arrivals in the first quarter of the year from Mombasa’s Moi International Airport shows a decline in comparison to the corresponding period last year.

Tourist arrivals

Total arrivals for the whole country for the first quarter of this year by air and sea was 312,258 compared to 313,691 arrivals in the same period last year.

This reflects a 0.5 per cent decline, KTB indicated.

Mombasa airport received 72,735 visitors this year compared to 93,008 last year, a 21.8 per cent decline.

Hersi dismissed the notion that the Kenyan tourism industry can effectively survive on local and regional tourism alone.

“We need to have a good mix and balance. It is largely the international tourists who bring in the much needed foreign currency,’’ he explains.

“The Government has been notorious and continues to give preference to ministries with serious misappropriation issues yet the minis. The ministry of Tourism can create more wealth if given enough resources,’’ Hersi added.

Mr Adam Sheikh, the general manager of Baobab Resort& Spa, challenged the Government to be more proactive in the promotion of tourism.

“It is prudent that KTB which markets Kenya to the rest of the world is adequately funded if Kenya is to make gains from tourist arrivals here,’’ Sheikh said.

Mike Macharia, the chief executive, Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers, said Government should be committed towards promoting the tourism industry.