Five Things State must do to promote Tourism

Tourists have fun at one of the Mombasa beech hotels. Kenya must broaden the range of innovative tourism products to grow the sector. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

By Iqbal Karim

Tourism is one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing industries and its importance for economic development is widely acknowledged. What makes tourism different from many other services is that the supplier stays where he is, and the tourist comes to him rather than the supplier taking his services to the consumer. Tourism can thus play a key role in poverty alleviation, bringing jobs for unskilled or semi-skilled workers in hotels, and resorts, as well as encouraging job creation in supply industries.