South Coast hotels reduce prices to attract tourists during low season

Kilifi County Deputy Governor Kenneth Kemto (left) and Mada Baobab Sea Resort General Manager Peter Njoroge (right) talk to German tourists at the hotel. Kemto said most of the tourist attraction sites in the county remain largely untapped due to lack of aggressive marketing. [PHOTO: GIDEON MAUNDU/ STANDARD]

KWALE: Some tourists are taking advantage of falling prices during the low season to flock hotels in South Coast, The Standard has established.

Many hotels have laid off workers because of the low season, which attracts smaller numbers of tourists. Many hotels record an average bed occupancy of 40 per cent but Amani Tiwi, a resort in the region, has reported a 65 per cent occupancy after lowering its prices.

Among the guests at the resort is Gunta Parten from Germany, who is in the country for the first time. "This is my first time to come to Kenya and the reason I chose this time of the year is that it is cheaper," said Parten.

He will be in the country for two weeks. He praised Kenyan hospitality and good landscape with lots of animals as a major attraction.

 Flunette Kreis, also from Germany, arrived the previous night and also echoed Parten's sentiments.
"You realise that this time of the year is relatively cheaper and although I was told that it is now a rainy season here, it doesn't hurt," said Kreis, who is also visiting for the first time.

She liked the beach and has plans to visit Amboseli National Park for the two weeks that she will be in the country.

Apart from the two, local tourists, especially from Nairobi, have also been able to take advantage of the season to tour South Coast for the first time.

Kevin Nderitu and Josephine Gichuru said during the festive season, it was so expensive to put up in some of the big hotels located at the beach fronts.
"Kenyans should take advantage of the low season because prices are relatively cheaper. I only read online and decided to come because the place is so secluded," said Nderitu.

Amani Tiwi General Manager Aditya Mata said the hotel has a strategy to improve bed occupancy by not reducing prices but increase packages.
The hotel has launched a package where children are accommodated for free, introduced honeymoon package that also includes airport transfers and single ladies offers called divas package.
"Instead of reducing prices, we are offering more. Occupancy during Easter was 100 per cent and now we are doing 65 per cent, which is not bad," he added.

The hotel has about 209 rooms with over 200 staff and according to Mata, no one will be sacked.

Last week, Swahili Beach Resort started to lay off staff due to the low number of tourists, according to General Manager Jeff Mukolwe.
But according to Mata, this should not be the case. "Instead, hotels should have innovative measures. We will use this time to multi-skill by rotating people in different departments," he said.