[Hongera] They got this right, they deserve some credit

Alpha

JF-Expert Member
Aug 30, 2007
662
251
I've got to give credit where credit is due. The Government has actually done a pretty good job here. This is what happens when they are serious, have a plan, a vision, think ahead and implement the right policies. Keep it up but don't rest on your laurels there is still a lot of work to do and a lot of potential still untapped.

I wish they could be this serious with mining. It has the potential to lift us from a least developed country to a medium developed country.

Kenya Tourism Update: Beyond Recovery, a Reorientation?

Wednesday, 03 February 2010


Two years from the post-election violence and still struggling under the weight of global crisis fallout, Kenya’s tourism industry is not on track to meet the goals set by Vision 2030 of three million visitors, and a 10% contribution to GDP by 2012. However, an aggressive marketing campaign that won Najib Balala the Tourism Minister of the Year 2009 award, backed by more public spending, has begun to turn the sector around. Data released recently by Stanbic researchers in Nairobi shows a 42% increase in performance from 2008 for the first three quarters of 2009. Bookings were strong over the December holiday and the general doom and gloom mood hanging over the country’s beaches and savannahs is lifting.

Stanbic’s conclusions: so far, so good. But looking beyond recovery toward the growth envisioned before all the crises came crashing down will require a shift in focus from quantity to quality. “As much as the arrival numbers are important, the spend-per-trip is paramount,” says Anthony Mwithiga, chief investment officer for Stanbic Investments Management Services (SIMS), who conducted the research.

Tanzania has been working on an environmentally friendly high-value, low-volume strategy for a few years, to great effect. Even as the country faces declining arrival numbers for foreign visitors (10% down in the first 10 months of 2009), the amount each tourist spends in Tanzania far and away outpaces Kenya and even Egypt and South Africa.


How did they do it? Part of this comes naturally – Tanzania ranks more attractively than both Egypt and Kenya on natural resources, with Mount Kilimanjaro, Ngorongoro Crater and Zanzibar collectively beating out the pyramids. But the government has also enforced strict regulations to keep hotel standards high. Zanzibar’s coastline is dotted with much nicer resorts and fewer low-end beach shacks than Mombasa’s. Exclusive hotels have overtaken the dusty streets of Arusha in the last few years. And the Tanzanian government, notably President Jakaya Kikwete himself, has been vigorously courting Americans with money to spend. Unlike most African destinations, Tanzania gets more tourists from the US than the UK. Qatar Airways started a direct flight from Houston to Dar es Salaam last year.

Kenya is still hurting from Delta’s postponement of its planned Atlanta to Nairobi direct flight because of security concerns. Limited travel warnings due to terrorism and violent crime that persist from the US and the UK also keep more high-end travelers from coming to Kenya. These warnings will not abate anytime soon, and are likely to increase as the potentially violent 2012 election season nears. But Mwithiga says, “there’s still a strong opportunity for investment at the high end of the market” in Kenya. Top-end hotels and resorts are back at maximum occupancy for the country’s high season.

And the sector has a lot of room to grow from business traffic that only accounted for 10% of revenues in 2008. With or without terrorists, Nairobi remains a conference hub in need of more modern hotels and better conference facilities. The sleek Tribe hotel that opened recently near UN headquarters in Gigiri has been rewarded by consistently strong bookings.

How to attract more investors? Those interested in building hotels already get tax breaks. Balala now wants to give them free land. That could offset other deterrents like poor infrastructure and insecurity that the government will not be able to fix in the near term, but also unfortunately poses the potential for inefficient patronage and land conflicts as has been the case in Uganda.

Balala is also keen to partner with Tanzania in marketing East Africa as a single destination. Tanzania says it supports the idea, but seems markedly less excited about it (understandably enough, as Tanzania knows it will suffer from any further political turmoil in Kenya).

Kenya’s low spending tourists currently create one job for every three arrivals. If the country can manage to attract more high-end visitors, that could come up to one job from every two arrivals. Much of this employment creation would filter down into the wider service economy, which in this post-crisis climate could sure use the help.



Source: http://www.ratio-magazine.com/20100...m-Update-Beyond-Recovery-a-Reorientation.html
 
Mhhh, it seems to me the good president is actually doing something right, huh?

Talk about things that make you go mmhhhhhhh....
 
Lets see what is gonna happen.

Yep, how they handle this part:

Balala is also keen to partner with Tanzania in marketing East Africa as a single destination. Tanzania says it supports the idea, but seems markedly less excited about it (understandably enough, as Tanzania knows it will suffer from any further political turmoil in Kenya).

will be very interesting. As with almost everything else to do with the EAC Kenya seems to be very desperate. They weren't talking about single destination marketing 10 years ago when TZ was still asleep. I'd prefer they kept them seperate at least for now. I think there are a lot of other areas Tanzania needs to concentrate on, domestic tourism, cultural tourism, Dar es salaam, Bagamoyo etc beach tourism, Southern circuit, etc...

This country is blessed with so much. if only we had the right leaders.
 
0 Reactions
Reply
Back
Top Bottom