Agency rekindles resort cities plan in ASAL counties

Camels walk into the desert from Lake Turkana in Marsabit County. [File, Standard] A State-backed think tank has revisited the proposal to set up resort cities in Lamu, Turkana and Isiolo counties as a way of boosting tourism in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs). Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (Kippra) in a discussion paper documenting how ASAL regions can help boost the country's foreign exchange earnings, notes that this proposal was not implemented in the tourism sector 2018-2022 strategic plan. The strategic plan by the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife sought to leverage the Lamu Port, South Sudan, Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) Corridor project to develop the resort cities to improve the country's bed capacity and standards of tourism facilities. This would have helped improve tourism numbers from 1.6 million to three million and also increase average spending per visitor from Sh40,000 to Sh70,000, according to the strategy, which indicated that land acquisition was already in progress. The discussion paper by Kippra titled Unlocking Tourism Potential in Arid and Semi-arid Counties of Kenya, notes that most of the sector plans focus more on developing Mombasa as a tourism destination. "There is need to incorporate ASAL counties tourism destinations development in the 2022-2027 tourism sector plan," notes the paper released in November last year in its policy recommendations. Kippra also raises the issue of urbanisation, which it notes threatens national parks, and recommends that the Kenya Tourism Agenda address it. "Spaces meant for parks need to be conserved and the wildlife protected," says Kippra. The think tank lists social media and private travel agencies as some of the mediums that can be used to market the available attraction sites and activities in ASAL counties. Additionally, there is a need for a website that details these attraction sites in ASAL counties, recommends Kippra. The website, it adds, needs to highlight details like places where they are located, how visitors can get there, opening hours, ticket prices, nearby accommodation, special events and species of wildlife located in specific sites. Owing to how culturally rich these counties are, Kippra at the same time recommends a guided tourist calendar highlighting cultural events, interesting activities and where to visit during the period. "Knowledgeable calendar guides provide tourists with insights of when events will be happening, and they can plan their travel on time," says Kippra. "Organise more regular county cultural festivals, exhibitions, and events showcasing local traditions, music, dance, art, and cuisines. Such events attract more tourists and provide opportunities for cultural exchange and generation of income." These events should also have the involvement of the local communities from planning, and promoting to execution to ensure their success. "The higher the number of cultural events the higher the number of visitors visiting the county, therefore, promoting cultural tourism," the paper states. The paper sought to determine the potential of ASALs in the tourism sector by analysing 29 counties against four pillars - infrastructure, attraction sites, security and hygiene. Their scores on these pillars were then computed into the Tourism Competitive Index. Some of the counties are Turkana, Machakos, Samburu, Marsabit, Nyeri, Elgeyo Marakwet, Nakuru, Lamu, Meru, Tana River, Tharaka Nithi, Kwale, Migori, Kiambu, Kitui, Kajiado, Baringo, Mandera, West Pokot, Wajir and Taita Taveta. The score was from zero to one, where closer to one signifies a better score. The results showed the less arid the county was, the better the score. "Semi-arid counties (10-29 per cent) generally performed well with a score of 0.39 followed by semi-arid Counties (30-84 per cent) with a score of 0.38 while arid counties (85-100 per cent) had the lowest score at 0.30," the paper reads. Of the 29 counties, Taita Taveta, which is categorised as (30-84 per cent semi-arid), had the highest score of 0.55 followed by Kajiado with 0.52 and Nyeri (0.49). For arid counties (85-100 per cent), Isiolo County had the highest score of 0.47; semi-arid counties (30-84 per cent), Taita Taveta had the highest score of 0.55; and semi-arid counties (10-29 per cent), Nyeri had the highest score of 0.49. "The variations in scores were, however, minor and below the average score of 0.5, which means that both the arid and semi-arid counties are less developed in some respects such as infrastructure and level of hygiene in hotels," notes Kippra.

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