Kenya --Tourism
Kenya's
tourist attractions range from safaris
through game parks to beautiful beaches
on the coast. Until 1969, tourism
development had focused on Nairobi's
hotels and on its game parks. Subsequently,
coastal tourism received increasing
attention, and tie-ins between game
park and beach stays became more common,
attracting visitors from East Africa
and from overseas. Kenya's coasts
offer intriguing cultural and historical
surroundings including picturesque
old Arab towns and the ruins of sixteenth-century
Portuguese settlements. There are
ideal conditions for SCUBA diving
and game fishing together with 150
miles of unspoiled beaches protected
from sharks by the great coral barrier
reef. New cottage-style hotels draw
on local architectural styles and
decor and offer an international standard
of luxury. Most visitors to Kenya,
however, continue to come primarily
to see its varied wildlife, in particular,
the world's largest concentrations
of elephant, giraffe, antelope, and
zebra. Though hunting safaris have
declined since their colonial heyday,
restricted game hunting continues
to draw enthusiasts. Kenya has an
outstanding record among African countries
in the protection and development
of game parks and lodges.
Tourism
has a long-standing tradition in Kenya,
and in fact was more well developed
there than in any other East African
country before independence. After
independence, tourism was the fastest
growing sector of the nation's economy.
Only coffee and tea production brought
in more foreign exchange. Income from
tourism first exceeded that from coffee
in 1989, when a record 730,000 tourists
brought in KSh 6,986 million. Between
1990 and 1993, 3.23 million foreign
visitors came to Kenya, representing
about 5% of the tourist trade in Africa
and about 28% of that of Eastern Africa.
Tourism is Kenya's largest source
of foreign exchange, with gross receipts
in 1996 reaching an estimated KSh
25.6bn or $448m. The industry accounts
for 19% of the nation's GDP and employs
thousands.
Kenya's
strategy for developing tourism was
to pursue the top end of the global
tourist market rather than to promote
mass tourism. This strategy has worked
well thus far, but over the next few
years the industry faces a number
of pressing problems. Increasing competition
from the Far East and South Africa
increasingly draw tourists away. Secondly,
since Kenya's tourism industry relies
largely on visitors from Europe and
America, it is vulnerable to economic
fluctuations in those regions. Shortages
of accommodation and catering facilities
continue to hamper the hospitality
industry in Kenya's main tourism areas.
Marketing, promotion and servicing
are below competitors' standards although
private touring companies provide
good quality training to their staffs.
Poor roads and difficult access continue
to pose obstacles. Kenya's government
recognizes the importance of maintaining
the delicate balance between attracting
large numbers of visitors and preserving
the natural environment of beaches,
forests and savanna; new tourist facilities
are being built with this balance
in mind. In recent years, tour operators
have begun to promote non-traditional
attractions including historical sites,
bird watching and mountain climbing.
Kenya hosted
the 20th annual congress of the US-based
Africa Travel Association in 1995
together with the Kenya International
Tourism Exhibition (KITE). Addressing
the congress, Kenya's Minister for
Tourism recognized that the industry
was responding to changing patterns
of consumer demand and building a
platform for multi-destination travel
within the region. The government
has chosen the policy of letting market
forces determine which tourism strategy
it will follow over the next decade.
It must decide whether to continue
to promote luxury tourism, which generates
more revenue per day but requires
a high proportion of foreign investment,
or to pursue mass tourism, which creates
more jobs and attracts more foreign
exchange but leads to congestion in
the parks and on the beaches.[1]
[1] Uwechue,
Raph (ed.) 1996. Africa Today, Third
Edition, Africa Books Limited, p.870.
Resources researched
by
Abdelaziz Marhoum, & David A. Samper
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