Tourism earnings hit by travel advisories

“The drop is attributed to the biting euro zone crisis, the world economic crunch and travel advisories issued against the country over insecurity fears,” Muriithi said.

The US and some European countries had warned their citizens against travelling to Kenya over imminent terrorism activities especially in Mombasa, which serves as a major port and travel hub in Kenya.

tourism competition

The KTB said the uncertainty over the outcome of the just concluded general election, the subsequent petition had also affected the industry.

In a speech read on his behalf by John Orumoi, the head of Finance at KTB during the 18th National Tourism Competition at Utalii College, Muriithi said potential visitors adopted a wait-and-see attitude due to the occurrences of the previous election.

KTB is also putting together strategies to ensure continuous

visitors from the emerging markets including India, China and South Africa which all recorded an increase in the number of tourist arrivals.

Utalii College Principal Dr Kenneth Ombongi said National Tourist Competition is geared towards assisting the industry realise the 2 million tourists each year.

sharpening skills

“Its through such competitions that professional skills, capacity and creativity of our colleagues in the industry are showcased and accords us an opportunity to keep the skills up-to date at the cutting edge,” Ombongi said.

The competitions attracted 139 competitors from across the country.

The principal said they are the planning to scale up the competitions from the national to international through the Association of Hospitality and Tourism Schools to measure themselves against the very best from Africa and the world.