Hope amidst closed hotels, laid-off workers and idle tour vans

Although foreign visitors arrivals to Kenya spiked by 33 per cent in June compared to the same period last year and reversed a downward trend for the first five months of 2015, hotel occupancy at the Coast is still low.

The Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers (KAHC) says occupancy is lower than normal by 30 to 60 per cent.

A review of monthly data on foreign visitor arrivals through Moi International Airport by Nation Newsplex reveals that there was a decline in arrivals for every month, except June, compared to last year.    

The tour companies used to buy lubricants from manufacturers in bulk when tourism was doing well.

 Foreign visitors arrivals through the airport fell by 45 per cent from January – August 2015 compared to the same period last year.  

In the first eight months of this year, 47,970 foreign visitors arrived in the country through Mombasa International Airport down from 87,972 in 2014, indicates data from Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

KAHC Coast branch Vice Chairman said the hotel industry has been relying mainly on guests from conferences as well as a few local and international guests to stay afloat due to the drop in tourist numbers. The situation has resulted in the laying off about 40,000 hotel workers and the closing down of about 40 hotels.

Concurring with the Association, Serena Beach Hotel General Manager Tuva Mwahunga said despite talk of a recovery in the sector and the lifting of travel advisories against coastal counties of Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi by the United Kingdom, the Coast is yet to recover from the negative effects of terror attacks, which were perpetrated by Somali terrorist group Al-Shabaab last year.

“Since last year, hotels have been operating on empty beds as the travel advisories made us lose even our repeat guests. We have been incurring huge losses due to low business. We were forced to reduce our workforce to cut operational costs,” said Mr Mwahunga.

He adds that tourism at the Coast, Kenya’s top tourism destination, hit its lowest ebb from May last year to May  this year due to security concerns.   “The sector will take a long time to recover as the tourists who used to come to Mombasa go on holiday to other destinations, while the charter airlines fly elsewhere,” he said.

Sai Rock Beach Resort General Manager Robert Kiri said following the tourism downturn experienced from May last year, the hotel introduced workers salary cuts of between 15 and 20 per cent to bring down operational costs.

Mr Kiri said it was only in August that the hotel was packed to capacity, thanks to school holidays and the Mombasa International Agricultural Show and conferences.

In April and May last year, a wave of deadly terror attacks by the Islamist group Al-Shabaab rocked Nairobi and Mombasa counties. The attacks prompted the United Kingdom, US, France and Australia to issue travel advisories which warned their citizens against visiting parts of Nairobi, Coast and Northern Kenya.

As a result of the travel warnings, UK tour operators evacuated hundreds of British tourists who were on holiday at the Coast. Thereafter, all chartered airlines from the UK pulled out of the Mombasa route, followed by all charter airlines from Europe, save for German holiday airline Condor.

Charter flights from Europe to Mombasa plummeted to four a week, from 40 a week in the peak period of 2011. From July to November last year, hotel occupancy in Mombasa averaged 35 per cent, Malindi and Watamu towns in Kilifi County 20 per cent, and Diani in Kwale County 18 per cent.

HOTEL LAYOFFS

In April this year, the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA) National Chairman Joseph Ole Keyua revealed that 28,000 unionisable hotel workers at the Coast were out of work due to the tourism decline.

Mr Keyua said about 10,000 permanent hotels workers in the region had been sent home on unpaid leave while others had their salaries lashed by 30 per cent as hotels were hit hard by lack of international guests. He added that 18,000 members of the union who were working on contracts had also been laid-off.                    

TOUR GUIDES

In the same month the Kenya Association of Tour Operators (Kato) Coast branch Chairperson Monika Solanki said about 1,000 tour vans across the region were idle due to lack of international tourists visiting the national parks and game reserves.

As a result, she added, more than 5,000 workers in the tour sub-sector had been laid off as visits to the parks had significantly dropped. The Kato official explained that the number of tour vans which head to Tsavo East National Park were about five a day down from between 50 and 70.

“In June, Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) Mombasa branch executive officer James Kitavi said members were losing about Sh1 billion a month following the tourism downturn.

He said  almost all businesses in Mombasa depended on tourism, adding that the slump had crippled businesses across the region “The tourism decline has adversely affected our members’ businesses. Traders lose more than Sh1 billion a month,” he said.

BLOW TO MANUFACTURING

Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) Coast chapter chairman Munir Thabit said manufacturers had been hit hard by the industry’s poor performance.

He added that manufacturers of soft drinks, cooking oil, sugar, salt, dairy products, tea, coffee, tomato sauce among other products had been experiencing a drop in sales following the closure of some hotels.

 “The tourism slump has hurt the manufacturing sector as the closure of hotels has slowed down the sale of products,” he said.

Manufacturers of lubricants, he added, had also lost business as tour van trips to the parks and game reserves had significantly dropped.

“The tour companies used to buy lubricants from manufacturers in bulk when tourism was doing well,” he said.

During low season, he said, hotel owners normally buy building materials such as cement, paints among other products for renovating their facilities.

But this time round, he explained, many investors lacked cash flow for buying materials for refurbishing their hotels.

However, KAHC Coast executive officer Sam Ikwaye said security has significantly improved at the Coast after the Government addressed the concerns raised by international tourist markets.

“In June, the UK lifted travel advisories against Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi Counties due to improved security across the region,” he said.

Mr Ikwaye said the industry also got a major boost from US President Barack Obama’s visit and last month’s endorsement by UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Secretary-General Taleb Rifai.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has also visited the country, while Catholic Pope Francis is expected to visit Kenya in November this year.

“We expect more international tourists to visit the country between November and December this year as the country has been enjoying calm for months,” he said.

In order to revive the industry, the Government this financial year set aside Sh5.2 billion for tourism recovery marketing campaigns.

Read more at www.nation.co.ke/terrorism