State promises to introduce tourism boards by year-end

NAIROBI: The tourism industry could be headed for a soft landing next year as Government plans to re-introduce boards in related parastatals.

This comes following intense lobbying by tourism stakeholders for the past two years for the Government to set up the boards which are expected to facilitate better corporate governance and transparency in the country’s tourism boards.

“We have had engagements with tourism stakeholders across the board for quite some time now,” explained Tourism Cabinet Secretary Phyllis Kandie. “One thing that has stood out is the need for the tourism parastatal boards. We are telling the stakeholders that their pleas have been heard and we are giving them an early Chrismas gift,” she added.

Operations in the country’s tourism industry are largely executed by several parastatals under the ministry including Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) and Kenya Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC).

However, none of them have functional boards since their dissolution two years ago through the Tourism Act 2012, making it difficult to make decisions and conduct policy intervention. In 2012, the chaos in the governance of the country’s tourism boards was brought to the fore after then Tourism Minister Dan Mwazo made several appointments to the boards leading to boardroom wrangles that ended up in court.

Players in the private sector have welcomed yesterday’s move by the Government, stating that setting up and staffing tourism boards with professional personnel would herald a new dawn of governance for the country’s tourism industry.

“For organisations to operate they need to have boards in place and we have been talking to the Government to set up this important framework in our tourism authorities,” stated Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caters Chief Executive Officer Mike Macharia.

GOOD NEWS

“This is very good news and it will make it easier for these authorities to do their work because as it is most of the administrative burden lies with the managing directors, who are also limited by law in terms of their mandate,” he added. Kenya is currently struggling to come out of a tourism slump after a spate of security-related incidents saw the industry recording its worst figures since 2008, after the post-election violence.

Earlier this year, travel advisories placed on the country by the UK, US, France and Austria - the country’s top tourism markets - further dealt a major blow to the industry, forcing players to turn to the domestic and regional markets for earnings.