REVIEWING KENYA’S TOURISM STRATEGY MAIN OBJECTIVE OF NEW PANEL
(Posted 14th November 2016)
A panel of eminent tourism personalities, drawn from key players in the Kenyan private sector, have been tasked by Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala to take a hard look at the country’s tourism strategy and come up on the double with recommendations how to make changes for the better.
Mahmud Janmohammed, the CEO of Serena Hotels, is joined by Anne Murungi of Villa Rosa Kempinski, Vickie Muyanga of Carlson Rezidor, James Bor, Charles Campbell, David Kigangi, Daniel Muoki, Nana Gecaga and Mohamed Abdi. Chairperson of the team is Mrs. Tasneem Adamnji.
Coast hoteliers in particular have raised questions why recent initiatives, including incentives for charter operators to Mombasa, have not yielded better and faster results with some saying that the recovery for the Kenya coast, presently standing at nearly 20 percent over 2015, not nearly being enough to fill their beds.
Others based in Nairobi have told this correspondent that while the MICE segment has shown remarkable resilience and significant growth are challenges remaining due to the lack of a second major convention centre, something coast operators also bemoaned after no progress has been made to construct such a facility in the past.
Tourism sources regularly in touch with this correspondent have also expressed their growing concern over the potential impact of the Kenyan elections in 2017 which may, going by past experience when arrivals took a dip, may put a full recovery only on the map for the period after 2018.
With the new CEO of the Kenya Tourism Board taking up her office in just over two weeks time – Betty Radier was appointed a few weeks ago – will the new Task Force no doubt be working overtime to review present marketing strategies for existing core markets but also new and emerging markets including Africa, to at the very least tweak and fine tune the country’s approach if not directly recommend major new initiatives.
