MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH REPORTED FOR REGIONAL TRAVEL AND TOURISM
(Posted 12th December 2014)
At a meeting yesterday in Nairobi, ahead of Kenya’s Independence Day which is celebrated today, 12th of December, did the Heads of State of the so called Coalition of the Willing take two key decisions which will change the face of travel and tourism in this part of Eastern Africa forever.
Long demanded and longer in coming was the move to grant duly registered expatriates living in any of the three countries, who hold a work or residency permit, free movement across the three countries WITHOUT having to pay Visa fees. This, when implemented, will no doubt encourage expats to visit for instance the Kenyan beach resorts or experience the resorts along Lake Kivu, with major savings in Visa fees, which for a family of four can run into some 200 US Dollars per visit, something which was long seen as a deterrent against regional travel.
The other major breakthrough was reached in regard of air transport where the three countries are now committed to lift all restrictions and create a truly open sky, something which will very likely bring the airfares down to much more affordable levels.
Both measures are thought to potentially greatly boost occupancy levels for the Kenyan beach resorts but also lead to greater regional travel to the respective national parks in the three countries, where equally, and for some time now, East African resident entrance fees have been in existence to encourage the expat communities to explore the rich diversity across the three countries.
It was Waturi Wa Matu, the Coordinator of the East African Tourism Platform, East Africa’s apex body for tourism’s national private sector associations, who broke the news late yesterday evening, and credit to her and EATP for the hard work they put in and the persistence in repeatedly raising these points which finally led to the Heads of State to take such a courageous and ground breaking decisions.
This is, after the common tourist Visa was launched almost a year ago, the best news so far for the tourism sectors of the three countries and gives hope to yet more changes coming up in the future to make travel easier and cheaper.
