Coast hotels operating at below 10 per cent

Kenya: Hotels at the Coast are operating below 10 per cent as tourists, both local and international, continue to avoid the region owing to increased insecurity in various parts of the country.

East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism Principal Secretary Ibrahim Mohamed said the situation on the ground is worse as the hotels are hardly receiving visitors daily, thus affecting their financial obligations.

“The situation is catastrophic and the wave of insecurity is to blame for this. However, we are engaging the tourism industry stakeholders with a view to finding a long lasting solution,” he said yesterday in a phone interview from Coast. He said most of the hotels have closed down.

Currently, the Task Force on Tourism Recovery constituted by Cabinet Secretary Phyllis Kandie a few months ago is in Mombasa to meet stakeholders in various segments before finalising a report. The task force is expected to hand over the report by the end of next month.

High season

Dr Mohamed observed that though the period from November to December is the high season in the tourism industry, hotel bookings in Coast hotels are low as compared to Nairobi.

Nairobi has been performing better due to high level meetings. For example, last week, the city had more than three international meetings happening concurrently. An example was the just-concluded Kenya International Investment Conference (KIICO), and 2nd Food Processing and Packaging Exposyum (FPPE). The two events were attended by about 2000 visitors.

Mohamed is accompanying other members of the task force touring various hospitality facilities in the Coast region.

Lucy Karume, the chairperson of the task force, said the situation in North coast, Malindi and Watamu is worrying as the number of local and foreign tourists continues to decline.

“The recent spate of insecurity incidents in the country, for example, the killing of 28 passengers Mandera County by Al-Shabaab terrorist has contributed to tourists cancelling planned visits to the Coast,” Karume said on phone. She said the tourism industry at the Coast is almost collapsing, and called on all the stakeholders, both local and international, to join efforts and agree on the short-term measures. She stated most hotels are opening in the morning closing in the evening having not received a single visitor.

The virtual collapse of the tourism industry at the Coast, she said, would affect the national economy badly as other related economic activities like agriculture, transport, banking, aviation, and manufacturing industries will equally collapse as the production levels drastically decline. Karume says there is growing fear that commercial banks are likely to auction the facilities to recover their loans.