ABOUT KENYA AND WHY VISITING NOW IS THE BEST TIME
(Posted 07th May 2014)
Kenya is presently in the news but of course for all the wrong reasons and, after yet another week spent in that country, travelling up and down, meeting tourism and aviation stakeholders and observing the mood of not just those in the tourism industry but of the wananchi at large, it is a mixed bag of experiences I have brought home and am going to write about.
When in a country depending on tourism taxes are up and arrivals and market confidence are down, it is clear that the fundamentals have been turned on the head. It is obvious that the Kenyan government has not nearly done enough to prop up the sector and create that conducive environment vis a vis LOWER taxes, a streamlined regulatory and legal regime and by reforming a clearly failed cabinet portfolio alignment which has seen crucial elements like tourism and wildlife fragmented instead of, as the times demand, united. The present tourism bill needs urgent review to create a single strong body under which ALL elements are bundled to create a united public sector tourism body with which private sector stakeholders can identify and work with.
Verbal broadsides and rhetorical questions of what the private sector has done need to be responded to with vigour and backbone, such as highlighting how many hotels, lodges and resorts, presently making losses, are kept open by their owners – at a time when at the coast over 20 properties have closed down and laid off staff by the hundreds – keeping people in employ who continue to earn a decent living AND pay their salary taxes.
Kenya’s private sector expects and deserves better and it is now for the powers that be to face up and act to save one of the backbone sectors of the economy or else face a prolonged further downturn with no end in sight and subsequent losses of jobs, likely foreclosures by banks and having less in tax revenues, not more.
Hotel occupancies in Nairobi are broadly down, those in the national park lodges less than a year ago and the coast is probably the worst off I have ever seen, an opinion broadly shared by many stakeholders at the coast who agree, this is as bad as it ever was and then some more.
Yet, and now after the professorial lecture is over, there is an upside to a visit to Kenya, an upside which needs highlighting and which – I will be back in the country next week again – needs to be uptalked, to be showcased and to be shouted from the rooftops by the PR and marketing gurus: Kenya still got what it takes! Come visit Kenya NOW!
On arrival in Kenya I spent a night at the latest addition to Nairobi’s luxury hotel segment, the Villa Rosa Kempinski, and their pedigree showed from the welcome at the door over the simplified check in upstairs in the suite to the dining experience. I experienced close up and personal how Kenyans perform at the top end of the food chain in the hotel industry and they passed the test with flying colours, professional, friendly, observant and most of all, committed to make their guests feel at home, their smiles genuine and not just a facial expression.
I then flew on to the Masai Mara with Safarilink, happy to see that they showed as good a performance as a year ago, if not better. The conservancies along the main Masai Mara Game Reserve were teeming with game and an earlier article posted here tells the story of multiple cat sightings, already on the way to the Olare Mara Kempinski Camp from the airstrip and then during the game drives. There, too, was the staff at their best, evidence that Kenyans can hold their own against any competition, be it in Africa or on other continents. Well trained they performed superbly and the luxury surroundings were complemented by great food and attentive yet unobtrusive service, there when needed and discreetly standing aside when the guests got on with their lunch and dinner conversations.
At the coast, my next stop, I stayed at the new The Residences at the Leopard Beach Resort & Spa and again was surprised that, aside from very posh villas which offer guests all the amenities and facilities one can expect at the 5 star level, Kenyan chefs, after training in Bangkok, were producing taste bud busting Asian Fusion cuisine as if that was what they have done all their life.
In two months’ time the annual migration will go underway in the Masai Mara, offering the greatest spectacle nature can offer as they wildebeest by their thousands upon thousands cross the river to reach the rich pastures of the Masai Mara, when driven by hunger they do not mind running the gauntlet of crocs and other predators laying in wait.
It is also the other parks, in the North of the country, around Mt. Kenya, the conservancies from Lewa to Ol Pejeta and down to the boundaries of Amboseli and on to the Tsavos and even Shimba Hills, which offer one of the best safari experiences on the planet. The lodges and safari camps are safe, as are the hotels in Nairobi and as are the resorts at the coast. For opportunistic travelers there are some extraordinary savings to be made on airfares and in-country packages for safaris and the fabulous beaches are rebated too now, having the operators bleed money I should add as the government sucks out the increased tax burden from them nevertheless. It is nothing short of a travesty of what common sense would dictate to do, but then, common sense clearly is a commodity in very very short supply when it comes to ‘official Kenya’ dealing with their tourism crisis and, that too, their wildlife poaching crisis. The lack of informed and knowledgeable leadership is glaringly obvious and perhaps it is there that a start ought to be made to remedy and reverse the decline.
Inspite of the incidents while I was there in Kenya, I felt safe, no less safe than when I drive into Kampala and visit hotels and malls in my own home city or drive upcountry to visit our own parks. How often have I written that ‘no tourists have come to harm’ and I preach what I practice by the way, returning to +254 in a few days already again, that now is the time to visit, now is the time to take that vacation, the time to go on that safari and to enjoy the beaches of Diani, of Shanzu, of Watamu and of Malindi, even going up to magical Lamu and Kiwayu. Kenya’s tourism industry needs your support, deserves your support and is ready to reciprocate with as good a service level as one can hope for, even when coming on a package holiday arriving on one of the few charters which still fly from Europe to Mombasa.
I am saying all this well aware that as I took off from Ukunda for Nairobi last weekend and the day after my arrival in Nairobi for an aviation conference, more security incidents took place in Mombasa and Nairobi, the latter just hundreds of meters from the hotel where I stayed. Some delegates who packed their bags and literally fled from the hotel and the country, were clearly in panic mode while I and about 200 other delegates did stay and showed their support to the country which was, with due respect, the right thing to do.
Fear is a mighty driver and it is fear the terrorists are playing on, fear which is sadly now vented on law abiding Kenyan citizens of Somali descent, equally a knee jerk over-reaction just like delegates doing a runner or visitors booked for that long awaited holiday of a life time cancelling that last minute. The fight against terror is a global fight where yielding is the key to losing the battle. Every life lost is and should be mourned, but for us, it is equally important to honour that sacrifice by standing firm and continuing with our life as best as we can.
Those who can should stand by Kenya and support the country’s tourism industry, just like they supported us in Uganda when four years ago we were at the receiving end of Al Shabab. It is only together that we can weather that storm as divided we will make easier targets and are bound to lose out in the arena of public opinion around the world.
In closing I am happy to see that both Air Uganda and RwandAir are continuing their flights from Entebbe and Kigali to Mombasa, and offering excellent value for money packages to the Kenya coast and into the game parks. That is the spirit and I applaud them for standing shoulder to shoulder with the Kenyan tourism industry.
