Kenya Wildlife Service has suspended plans to increase park fees for local tourists.
The new rates were gazetted last October by Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala, and were to take effect on July 1, this year.
If the notice was effected, entry charges at Lake Nakuru National Park would have increased from Sh1,000 to Sh1,500, while Nairobi National Park rates would have shot up from Sh500 to Sh1,500.
The rates, which did not affect international tourists, caused an uproar among locals who said the move would kill local tourism.
“This is to inform the public that the Kenya Wildlife Service, in consultation with the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, has suspended the implementation of the new fees until further notice due to the prevailing circumstances occasioned by Covid-19,” KWS said in a statement .
Legal notice
In the legal notice, park fees for Aberdare, Tsavo, and Meru were increased from Sh400 to Sh1,000.
The changes in park fees were part of the ministry’s efforts to boost revenue from parks, which have been recording low tourism numbers.
Earlier in 2019, KWS launched a Rapid Results Initiative in Nakuru National Park as part of efforts to boost tourism. The park, according to KWS, had seen a drop in revenues from 2008 by almost half since the disappearance of flamingos.
The strategy also aimed at increasing the park’s current Sh480 million annual revenue collection to Sh1 billion, which is the amount the park used to generate in earlier years.
The Rapid Results Initiative was meant to create a more conducive environment for the flamingos to return to the lake that once ranked among the world’s most colourful lakes.
