The spectacular, breath-taking natural phenomenon famously known as the wildebeest migration is about to take place, and already anticipation is high. Tourists, be they local or foreign, who have witnessed the migration before, get drawn to it again as a piece of metal would to a magnet.
Players in the tourism industry are upbeat about it and the expectation of high numbers of tourists, despite travel advisories, has seen a number of hotels around the Mara and Serengeti ecosystems record over 80 per cent more bookings.
Some of the larger tourism industry staff who had been laid off have been recalled. After a depressing season dictated by the fear of terror attacks, this is a welcome relief. Only one thing remains in the way of making this a total success; travel advisories.
Despite travel advisories against Kenya by Britain, the two countries enjoy ties that go back to pre-independence times. Queen Elizabeth was on a visit to Kenya when news of her father’s demise reached her in 1956. Technically therefore, she ascended to the throne, informally, while in Kenya
Prince William proposed to his wife Kate while on holiday in Kenya in 2011. There is something about Kenya that draws the British royalty and many other prominent people to it. Rowan Atkinson, aka Mr Bean, a world renowned comedian, never misses an opportunity to be in Kenya, so does Jose Mourinho, one of the best soccer coaches in the world.
Billionaires like Sir Richard Branson, business magnates and political heavyweights from around the world spend their holidays in Kenya, although few people get to know about it. Recently while on an official visit to Kenya, US Secretary of State John Kerry couldn’t miss an opportunity to take a selfie with a baby elephant.
It is the prayer of every Kenyan therefore that travel advisories be lifted to allow more people to enjoy the serenity of our beautiful country.
Even barring the unfortunate interference by terrorists, efforts to market Kenya internationally have been lacklustre. This has been exacerbated by negative publicity emanating from insecurity and our charged political atmosphere which has, of late, seen Kenya given negative publicity.
The tourism industry can, and should be able to get this country enough foreign exchange to inject some life into the economy, which registered sluggish growth last year. Dollars, Euros, Yens and Sterling Pounds are out there waiting to be picked.
Brand Kenya’s efforts to reach a wider market have been restricted by limited financial resources and lack of political goodwill.
The Treasury should consider allocating more financial resources to the Tourism ministry, which must in turn use the money prudently to expand the tourist destinations across the country.
All the 47 counties have natural sites that should be marketed to draw in more visitors. The media can greatly help by giving enough coverage of our natural habitat and what abounds within to pull in more visitors and investors.
Politicians must also play a role by ensuring their utterances do not run counter to efforts to create a conducive environment for visitors to this beautiful country. For venomous political utterances would at this time be perhaps as bad as terror acts that have soiled the country’s image.
