Key lessons for Kwale from mystic Hawaii

Last week, my friend Mwalimu Ochami and his wife Mama Alice Ochami travelled from Kakamega County to South Coast to celebrate their forty two years in marriage. When I spoke to them, it occurred to me that for the one week they spent in South Coast, they contributed substantially to the flourishing of Kwale County’s economy. If just ten thousand Kenyans follow suit every month and flock into Kwale, hundreds of jobs will be created and thousands of livelihoods enhanced.

There is more to Kwale than the world famous Diani beaches. Places like Wasini Island remain largely on the margins of domestic tourism. Equally beneath the radar is The Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary which is run by the local Duruma people.

Despite the immense potential of its natural capital in attracting tourists, these very natural resources risk being sacrificed on the altar of apparent development. The most glaring example of this phenomenon has been the extraction of sand from Kwale towards construction of the Standard Gauge Railway. This matter, which landed in court, shows that unless we place economic value on our natural capital it is easy to be taken for granted.

The onus is ,therefore, on Kwale County Government to be on the forefront of placing price tags on the priceless natural capital in the County. They can borrow a leaf from the US State of Hawaii. Today, 30,000 visitors will land in Hawaii and will spend half a billion shillings in hotels, gifts, drinks and more. Approximately a similar number of visitors also landed on the island yesterday with roughly the same number expected tomorrow. Every December during the Christmas period, President Obama and his family together with his entourage of dozens are counted among these visitors.

But despite this tourism success, Hawaii has invested nearly Sh8.2 billion to market the island even further. One of its latest revolutionary marketing efforts is geared towards attracting natives through a revamped online presence. Isn’t this attainable including virtual live streaming of selected diverse rare attractions?

If Kwale is to walk down this route, then considerable time and resources need to be invested to attract not just older Kenyans like Mwalimu Ochami but also the thousands of young professionals in their twenties and thirties who may want to travel to exotic Hawaii without stepping outside Kenya’s borders. This is because unknown to many, the same marine resources that attract 30,000 people to Hawaii every day can be found in Kwale County.

The 8.6 million tourists who visited Hawaii in 2015 were a far cry from the 1.18 million tourists who visited Kenya during this same year. If counties like Kwale go all out of their way to market the paradise that is at their doorstep, more and more people will be drawn to its marine and terrestrial ecosystem wonders.

Think green, act green!