Early wildebeest migration a boon to Mara lodges

Many hotels in the Masai Mara Game Reserve are reporting full bookings as hundreds of tourists arrive to watch this year’s wildebeest migration, which has started one-and-a-half months early.

Last Saturday, there was a great deal of activity in the area as 413 tourists from Gujrat and Kerala states in India checked in at the Keekorok and Simba lodges.

The group that arrived at the Keekorok Airstrip through aboard a Safari link plane from the Jomo Kenyatta Airport was picked by 89 vehicles, and is so far the largest group to tour the Mara, not just this peak season, but also in the recent past.

AFRICA TOUR

Apart from criss-crossing the expansive reserve on game drives, the group also flew over the Mara in hot air balloons, watched the wildebeests cross the Mara River at the Lookout point and also watched sunset at the Simba Lodge hills.

Mr Rahita Amrit, a member of the group, said they were excited to be in Kenya after visiting Zambia and Zimbabwe, with Kenya the last destination of their Africa tour.

“We feel the Maasai Mara remains the best, since many animals can be seen in a small area. The hospitality of the Kenyan people, is slowly winning Indians over to make Kenya their holiday destination of choice,” he said.

Kenya Tour Drivers and Guides Association Secretary Felix Migoya said the arrival of the huge number of tourists shows the confidence Asian tourists have in Kenya as the number one destination in East Africa.

“It is my hope that the Indian market, in particular, will be sustainable in the long run. If these numbers are anything to go by, then we are headed somewhere in the tourism industry,” said Mr Migoya.

Tourist arrivals from India have been rising steadily since 2017, when it stood at 6.2 per cent. Asia accounted for 13.96 per cent of tourist’s arrivals in 2017-2018, according to the Magical Kenya website.

VISITORS

Other source markets by regional ranking indicate that 611,969 representing 32.2 per cent visit Kenya with majority ending at the Mara and 247,230 Americans being in Kenya last season a 12.2 per cent.

Africa and Indian ocean visitors represented 40.7 per cent, with 825,489 visitors touring Kenya in the same period.

The numbers have been realized after Kenya in the past few months took steps to improve her destination and tourism products which include game parks & reserves, wildlife, workforce development and standardization in the tourism sector.

This, together with the peace that is prevailing in the country provides a conducive environment for tourism to thrive.