Investors in real estate are awakening to realities of the growing hospitality sub sector in Kisumu and Siaya Counties, writes HAROLD AYODO
Until recently, getting worthy accommodation in the outskirts of Kisume and Siaya counties was a nightmare.
?Tourists who flew into the lakeside city to sample the vast western tourism circuit preferred traveling back to Kisumu town for the night.
?Recently, when opening Park View Safari Hotel in Kisumu, Prime Minister Raila Odinga decried the lack of a five star hotels in the area.
“Kisumu needs? major hotels and big bed capacity to tap into the booming tourism market,” Raila said.
The then Tourism Minister Najib Balala announced that the Government had set aside Sh500 million this year for the development of hotels in the region.
Balala further urged potential investors in the sub sector to apply for the loans from Kenya Tourist Development Corporation.
But now, the landscape is fast changing, as local investors are either constructing or renovating hotels and cottages in the outskirts of the lakeside city. ?A visit to Rock Resort, on the Kisumu-Busia road and barely ten minutes from the Kisumu International Airport depicts the new dawn.
?Rock Resort manager David Guya says the increasing number of visitors prompted the ongoing expansion of the facility.
?“Proximity to the newly renovated airport more than doubled our clientele and expansion is the way,” Guya says.
?According to the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), traffic through the facility has increased by 50 per cent.
The official figures show that over 540,000 passengers went through the airport in 2010 up from 360,000 recorded in 2009.
MANY FLIGHTS
Currently, at least ten local flights touch down a day at the Kisumu International Airport compared to a paltry two flights five years ago.
Pundits in the real estate sector concur that the current improvement of infrastructure in the county is encouraging private investors.
For instance, President Kibaki recently commissioned the groundbreaking ceremony for the rehabilitation of the Nyamasaria-Kisumu-Kisian road.
The 25-kilometre road network is being rehabilitated at a cost of Sh5.8 billion and has been contracted to a Chinese construction firm Sino Hydro Corporation.
According to Guya, the increased visitors have demands, which must be met to stay in business.
“We have set aside nearly Sh15 million to construct more modern rooms, cottages, additional restaurants and a swimming pool,” Guya says.
According to Guya, tastes and preferences of visitors even made them venture into farming.
self sufficiency
“We even have two green houses where we grow vegetables and fruits like water melons as majority of guests want their food fresh,” Guya says.
Across in Siaya County is the newly opened Kogelo Village Resort located barely 200 metres from the ancestral home of current US President Barack Obama.
According to the proprietor, Nicholas Rajula, the traffic of visitors to the ‘First Village’ changed fortunes.
“Tourists who came to see the ancestral village of the US President would travel back over 60 kilometres to sleep in Kisumu,” Rajula says.
Construction of apartments designed like traditional Luo cottages named after States in the US was the way to go.
“We opened recently and the numbers of visitors are very encouraging,” Rajula says.
He says they got 30 per cent loan funding from the Kenya Tourist Development Corporation (KTDC) to construct the property valued at Sh80 million.
? Rajula says the Ministry of Finance and Tourism also offered waivers on Value Added Tax (VAT) and duty for imported materials for construction.
? Kogelo Village Resort apartments are designed to accommodate couples, families and VIPs and are among the major attractions in the area.
“We wanted to capitalise on the rural environment to also attract corporate clients for team building, which we have,” Rajula says.
construction continues
However, just like the Rock Resort in the neighbouring Kisumu County, construction has not stopped.
“Our construction of more cottages, swimming pool, modern hall and upgrade of the power supply to a three phase are estimated at Sh50 million,” he says.
Currently, plans are underway to increase the cottages to 50 to cater for increased demand.
Similar to how investors in Kisumu are marvelling at the construction of roads, their counterparts in Siaya are reaping out of the Ndori —Ng’iya road.
“We even have electricity here which is a plus for the hospitality industry,” Rajula says.
But even as private investors in the area make hay as the sun shines, development of infrastructure comes with a cost in real estate.
Parcels of land in Kogelo have shot up from less than Sh60,000 an acre nearly a decade ago to slightly over Sh1 million today.
“People were never interested in land here even at a mere Sh60,000 per acre…the infrastructure was terrible,” Rajula says.
But now, realtors concur that even investors in the Diaspora are fast expressing interest in the counties.
Lake Estate Agency Ltd director Nishma Karia, says the numbers of investors based abroad are on the increase.
“We have prospective clients who have realised that there is a property boom in Kisumu and are investing in homes in up market areas like Milimani,” Karia says.
property boon
According to her, most of the investors based abroad are also interested in prime land on the outskirts of the Central Business District.
The script is similar with Tom and Company Agencies managing partner Aba Eban who says the two counties are attracting buyers.
“We are seeing an increase of buyers of land to erect hotels or purchase private homes and convert them into guest houses,” Eban says.
He says Kenyans living and working abroad have also pitched camp in the lucrative commercial real estate sub-sector.
“They (Diaspora) own nearly 60 per cent of property transactions annually in Kisumu alone,” Eban says.
He says that the majority of their clients are locals based in South Sudan, South Africa, Rwanda and many other African Countries
Following the Diaspora investments, pundits in the lakeside town have embarked on homes expos to tighten their grip on the lucrative market.
“A homes expo is scheduled for June 22 to 24th in Kisumu towards showcasing the vibrant real estate,” Eban says.
The developments come against the backdrop of the newly unveiled Nyanza Counties Tourism Development Plan (NCTDP) by the Tourism Ministry.
According to the blue print, tourism resources and opportunities could help spur economic growth in the sleepy rural economies.
The targeted attractions include golf, rock climbing and bird watching in Rusinga, tour of Kogelo where US President Barack Obama’s roots can be traced.
Others are the famous Kit Mikaye where (ancient rocks heaped together, believed not to disintegrate even when there is earthquake or inclement weather.
It is also home to legends Lwanda Magere, Okore Ogonda and Gor Mahia, among others, famed for courage in protecting their communities against external aggressions.
