Ministry set to gazzete members of tourism board

Tourism Cabinet secretary Phyllis Kandie has said plan to gazette members of the country’s tourism board are in the pipeline.

This comes after a year since the expiry of the mandate of the previous board.

“It might just be a Christmas gift to the sector,” she said during tourism recovery taskforce briefing on Wednesday.

Stakeholders in the private sector have been pushing the government to see to it that the tourism board is formed in order to ensure that the various entities in the industry deliver on their mandates.

In a previous media briefing, Kenya Tourism Federation chief executive Agatha Juma called on the government to constitute the board saying this is part of the recovery initiative for the industry.

“We hope that the government considers forming the board to help the sector operate smoothly,” she said.

PARK FEE REDUCTION

Tourism taskforce recovery committee chairwoman Lucy Karume commended the government for being instrumental in coming up with initiatives to help the industry recover from a number of challenges that it has been grappling with.

“Some of the key highlights we have included in the recovery report have already been implemented, among them, is the reduction of park fees,” she noted.

Tourism recovery task force is set to unveil its report in January next year.

“At the moment, the report is in its draft form. It is, however, with the Cabinet secretary for review before a final report is drawn and presented to the President,” Ms Karume said.

Ms Karume additionally called on the investors in the private sector to meet the government halfway in its efforts to revive the industry.

“For instance what some airlines are doing now in reducing the travel costs for local tourists in a bid to increase traffic in our destinations is a good move,” she said.