KATO drivers must have Tourist Service Vehicle (TSV) licences

 

Tour drivers are now required Tourist Service Vehicle Licences.

Special licence for tourist drivers

Tour van and truck drivers to have a special licence

The Kenya Association of Tour Operators (KATO) is enforcing the new traffic rules that require all tourist vehicles to have a Tourist Service Vehicle (TSV) operating licence.

In the past, tour vans and trucks operated with Public Service Vehicles (PSV) licences, just like matatus.

Yesterday KATO Chief Executive Officer Fred Kaigua told the Standard the organisation had mobilised all the tour operators in the 47 counties to comply with the new licensing directive.

''We have already mobilised our tour operators across the country to comply with the new directive if they expect to remain in operation. Ignore the order and you will be deregistered.”

He said the TSV licenses will rid the sector of charlatans and unscrupulous operators.
Kaigua explained that the idea was to ensure that transportation of tourists was carried out in the highest possible standards.

"A tourist vehicle must have a driver who is licensed as a tour guide by the Tourism Regulatory Authority while the NTSA is issuing separate tour driver licences – not the regular PSV for Matatus,'' he said.

Yesterday, tourism players in Kisumu hailed the move as one that would ensure sanity in the industry.

Led by the chairman of Kisumu Tour Guide Operators, Rashid Hussein of Zaira tours, the operators hailed the decision to regulate the transport sector.
Hussein said tour operators will be required to pay Sh3,300  for a TSV licence, almost same as PSV operators.