Hoteliers to get Sh11bn boost in tourism revival, say Balala

The government will help in the investment of billions of shillings to revive the tourism sector which has taken a beating in recent years due to insecurity.

Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala announced on Wednesday that a fund to offer affordable loans for hotel renovations would be set up.

Talks were on with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to secure Sh10 billion funding, he said.

The fund will only be available to hotels built years ago and whose standards and quality are wanting.

The government will also pump in some Sh1.5 billion into marketing.

Kenya’s tourism has suffered in recent years because of travel advisories by western governments occasioned by terror attacks. International arrivals have dropped drastically with current high season hotel bookings at a low of 10 per cent.

But speaking at a tourism summit at State House, Mombasa, Mr Balala was optimistic that the sector had started registering marked improvement with a 14 per cent growth between January and June. Full recovery is expected in 2018 with state support of conference tourism being one of the measures being taken to fully revive the sector.

In the past six months, the country earned Sh47 billion from tourism, and is expected to earn a record Sh100 billion by the end of the year, Mr Balala told industry players.

He said the government had invested “heavily’’ in security and infrastructure, especially in tourism hubs such as at the coast, where Sh100 billion worth of projects are being undertaken.

“The government has pumped Sh3.2 billion into the construction of Narok-Sekenani Road which leads to Maasai Mara National Reserve and the project is to start in two weeks,’’ said the Cabinet Secretary.

The tourism summit hosted by President Uhuru Kenyatta and who was unable to attend because he had travelled to Juba, South Sudan, was the first to be held in the region.

It was attended by officials from the public and private sectors among them hoteliers, tour operators, travel agents and beach operators from across the country as well as diplomats who included  the British  High Commissioner Nic Hailey.

However, Mr Balala challenged hotel owners to be innovative and improve their products in tandem with the changing clientele.

“The current tourist is younger and wants more than just sunbathing,’’ he remarked.

The success from the just-concluded Ticad conference, said Mr Balala, had motivated the government to focus more on promoting conference tourism.

Consequently, a team to be headed by Ms Tasneem Adamji, African Quest Safaris Ltd managing director will be appointed to lay the groundwork for the formation of a national convention bureau.

The bureau which will be independent of the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) will oversee development of conference tourism in the country.

Some of the projects in the pipeline include establishment of a conference facility at the Bomas of Kenya and at the Mombasa Beach Resort.

Mr Hailey said he was impressed that the Jubilee Administration had addressed insecurity and terrorism challenges.

“The Kenyan government is doing much to protect tourists and we appreciate that security has improved in Kenya compared to previous years,’’ said Mr Hailey adding that as a result of this, his  government had lifted travel advisories against coastal towns such as Mombasa and Malindi and the UK supports Kenya in the war against terrorism.

The British government, he said, was also supportive of the ongoing infrastructure projects such as the building of Mombasa Airport and Port Reitz Roads funded under TradeMark East Africa.

The National carrier Kenya Airways came under heavy criticism with industry players accusing it of failing to support tourism for charging very high fares and inefficiency such as long delays.

They questioned why the government kept on bailing out the airline and yet the management did not seem to improve.

KQ was also accused of failing to listen to views from clients and industry players.

Mr Francis Musila, KQ’s ground services director had a difficult time defending the carrier. He was booed when he said that they had brought down the fares.

Kenya Association of Hotel keepers and Caterers chairman Jaideep Vohra said the issue of Kenya Airways was serious especially the high fares and delays that must be addressed while more airlines must be allowed back.