By Kipchumba Kemei
Hotels in the Masai Mara Game Reserve will this Christmas receive few tourists, proprietors of key resorts have said.
Many hoteliers said bookings are expected to remain low until July next year when the migration of Wildebeestes from Tanzania to Kenya is expected to take place. However, they are optimistic domestic tourists will visit the reserve. Managers of the hotels who spoke to The Standard said local visitors only check in for lunch or just one night. "Most of them will not be sleeping here. They will come for lunch and game drives," said a manager of one of the lodges who did not want to be named. He attributed the trend to harsh economic times Kenyans are undergoing, adding that most hotels had cut prices by almost half to encourage locals to visit the Mara. In the past, most premium lodges and camps charged between Sh65,000 and 80,000 full-board a night. Charges Guests pay Sh3,200 each to Narok and Trans Mara county councils for game-viewing and varied amounts for companies for hot air baloon expeditions. Basecamp Explorer Resort Project Manager Rizwani Jiwa said since the naming of the annual gnus migration as the Seventh Wonder of the World two years ago, there has been renewed interest by foreign tourists to visit the reserve. "The event ignited interests to visit Mara and that is why business has in the last two years improved," he said, but noted there was a downturn this year due to post-election violence and the US elections. Despite good publicity, most tourists kept off the reserve.
