Boost your security to retain tourists, Balala tells hoteliers
Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala with his Principal Secretary Joe Okudo (right) during the Coast Tourism Stakeholders Summit at Neptune Beach Hotel in Kwale County on January 31, 2019. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Tourism CS also calls for improvement in infrastructure and vigorous marketing.
Political stability and improved security last year made Kenya a more attractive destination for international travellers.
Hoteliers have been advised to be vigilant and improve their security to attract more tourists.
Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala also urged industry players to improve the tourism infrastructure and vigorously market their products.
“There are three key pillars for any destination to succeed: security, infrastructure and marketing. Security is primarily the government’s responsibility, but all of us must be vigilant. With the type of insecurity we have today, we all have a role to play,” Mr Balala said during the Coast tourism stakeholders meeting in Kwale.
Noting that competition in the sector is stiff, the CS said,
“We have vibrant competition around us and beyond us. It is time for us to take measures to resolve these problems instead of point ing fingers at one another.
The CS also called on the players to tackle the menace of beach boys, who "harass" and frighten away tourists.
The beach boys are also said to be security threats to beachgoers.
“We must maintain secure and hassle-free beaches. We must create a situation that creates memorable experiences for visitors to out beaches. Counties must take responsibility and tackle the beach boys' menace and create jobs for them,” Mr Balala said.
BEST DESTINATION
The CS’s statements come three weeks after the DusitD2 terrorist attack, in which 21 people were killed by Al Shabaab militants.
The January 15 attack occurred on the third anniversary of the El Adde attack in Somalia, when Somali militias overran an African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) military base and killed more than 100 soldiers, according to unofficial figures.
Political stability and improved security last year made Kenya a more attractive destination for international travellers.
The hoteliers, led by Pride Inn Hotels Coast Regional General Manager Victor Shitakha, assured him that hotels at the Coast have beefed up their internal security.
“Coast hotels have improved their internal security and we will continue doing so, but we ask our players to be on the lookout for any eventuality” Mr Shitakha said.
Mr Shitakha who is the Kenya Coast Tourist Association (KCTA) chairman, said the players have installed CCTV cameras for better surveillance.
