Teachers' event breathes life into Coast tourism

The ongoing Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (Kessha) annual conference in Mombasa has boosted hotel bookings immensely in a region where the tourism sector is facing a recession.

Tourism at the Coast has suffered a serious blow this year due to terror attacks and travel advisories from Western States.

The five-day head teachers' conference has given the local industry a new lease of life with hotels and guest houses in Mombasa and Mtwapa reporting full bookings for the next one week.

More than 7,000 school heads have converged in Mombasa for the event.
"We are fully booked for the next one week due to the teachers' conference and other local workshops," said Sai Rock Beach Hotel General Manager Robert Kiri. "Most beach hotels, including guest houses, have reported booming business," added Kiri.

Facilities are leveraging on conferences to stay aloft after the sector was hit hard following travel advisories by foreign nations which led to mass evacuation of their nationals from Mombasa.

But the hotels seem to have devised new mechanisms of attracting local tourists and are now capitalising on conferences and workshops in the port city especially by subsidising their prices, according to Kiri.

Apart from hotels, others have also reported booming businesses with teachers taking the night life scenery by storm, bringing life into the county.

Meanwhile, Mombasa County Executive in charge of Tourism and Culture Job Tumbo was optimistic that these are the signs the hospitality industry was recovering. He said the county was now marketing other avenues to attract more locals including conference tourism.

"People have been seeing Mombasa as a beach holiday destination," Tumbo said, adding they were in talks with hotels to be able to offer sustainable packages to locals.

According to Tumbo, all the six coastal counties at the Coast were coming together to try and revive the industry and market the region as a package.