It’s clear State to blame for death of tourism

Local tourists enjoy a bush breakfast at the Sarova sanctuary in Tsavo west. [PHOTO: MAARUFU MOHAMED/STANDARD]

There is no denying that Kenya’s tourism sector is in a slump and many sectors of the economy and naturally employees are affected. Truth be told, many long-standing internal factors are responsible for tourism’s dwindling fortunes and policy makers and the State know that, but they still blame lean times on foreigners or recent events.

To be fair, some of these recent events played a role too, but it is not a secret that when it comes to tourism, Kenya started losing ground decades ago, but it became easier — and cheaper — for the State (and a Legislature held captive by the State) to blame external forces and not look inward to see that the problems affecting the sector are homegrown.