WOW – THE WONDERS OF WATAMU
(Posted 12th March 2015)
The entire Kenya coast has for some time now been struggling to overcome the fallout caused by anti-travel advisories. The award winning Diani beach south of Mombasa is as much affected as are the beaches north of the city and one has the impression that the further one travels towards Malindi the worse the situation becomes.
Watamu, named by TripAdvisor as among the 25 best beaches in Africa, is home to several resorts and a sizeable number of foreign residents who enjoy the laid back lifestyle. Business in the resorts is down, some say way down and the big game fishing business of Hemingway’s fame for which Watamu is known the world over, is down too. The main fishing season normally runs from November until March, here in Kenya known as the Kaskazi season and the season ending fishing tournament last week brought in a total of 26 boats from across the coast and from as far as Dar es Salaam. By the look of it will the resorts now have to depend on locals visiting from upcountry, expatriates from neighbouring countries like Uganda and Rwanda – those can now travel on a so called Interstate Pass after Visa requirements for them have been lifted – and perhaps a few hardened travelers from abroad who defy anti-travel advisories while seeking out bargains. Kenya Airways has special offers on the market to fly from London via Nairobi to Malindi, the nearest airport to Watamu, just half an hour’s drive away, to support local tourism businesses by making packages more affordable.
However, being a place where tourism plays such a pivotal role, did hoteliers, operators of fishing charters boats, business owners and locals come together to map out a way forward. Perhaps tired of the apparent inaction of the government and cognizant of the fact that self-help is better than just sitting around and complaining, did Damian Cook, founder of e-Tourism Frontiers and himself a long time resident of Watamu, bring the stakeholders together. Damian described the meeting he had organized a few weeks ago as productive with literally everyone in attendance and the immediate result was the launch of a new dedicated website, a Twitter handle and a Facebook page www.wondersofwatamu.com, www.twitter.com/WondersofWatamu and https://www.facebook.com/wondersofwatamu/timeline.
Seen as supplementing the efforts of the Kenya Tourist Board in uptalking Destination Watamu, rather than competing with the generic marketing of the country, have the three sites, launched only a month ago, already began to attract attention. The Facebook page now got 5.112 likes as of the moment of uploading this article, not a mean achievement for this cooperative effort, and the website, while not showing a hit counter, is also said to receive more and more visitors. On Twitter the WOW’s could do with some more followers, presently standing at only 222, yours truly included, but overall has the visibility of the campaign already shown results. ‘Members’ are seen to post pictures, videos and comments, most of them duly hashtagged for added reach, and an extraordinary YouTube clip really does tell the story of what visitors to Watamu can expect to experience when they take to the water. Have a look at it by clicking on the following link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fPGlKSPgZrw
Says the website: ‘Watamu is a beautiful and peaceful village on the Kenya Coast, nestled between pristine beaches and lush tropical forest. Since it was first settled as a remote Swahili outpost at Gedi, this area has remained a haven of peace and tranquility and is still one of the coast’s most undeveloped and natural areas. Known for its unique, relaxed and laid back way of life, Watamu welcomes visitors seeking to chill out, explore and enjoy the wonders that it has to offer. Whether it’s a family holiday, a romantic getaway or a wild coastal adventure, you’ll never forget the Wonders of Watamu. For any queries about visiting us, please contact us via Facebook or Twitter. Read more about Watamu’.
To what extent this cooperative private sector initiated effort will succeed to bring more tourists to Watamu remains to be seen but what is of course most laudable is that stakeholders, hitherto involved in often close up and personal competition, have started to look beyond themselves and accepted the need to work together, to first bake the pie and then apportion it, meaning to get people take an interest in Watamu before eventually deciding that this is the place to go and then selecting a hotel, resort, holiday villa and pick a big game fish skipper from among those who operate the boats.
It can only be hoped that similar initiatives will spring up at other coastal resort areas and perhaps even upcountry to showcase the local attractions to potential visitors from abroad, but also of course from the wider region and from within Kenya.
