President Uhuru Kenyatta begins Coast tour to boost tourism

President Uhuru Kenyatta

MOMBASA: The future of Kenya's tourism will be top on the agenda when President Uhuru Kenyatta begins his tour of the Coast Wenedday.

The Head of State will be accompanied by top officials and will engage tourism stakeholders at an inaugural Tourism Summit at State House Mombasa. The summit will be broadcast live on television from 7.30am.

Tomorrow, the President, who was scheduled to arrive in the coastal city yesterday evening, will open the Agricultural Society of Kenya's Mombasa International Show in Mkomani. The show has been held annually since 1903.

And on Friday, Uhuru will commission the first phase of Mombasa Port's second container terminal. This phase has two berths, the first of which will serve medium-sized vessels, and a second that can accommodate vessels of 8,000 TEU (20-foot equivalent units) capacity, according to a statement from the President's spokesman Manoah Esipisu.

"After significant setbacks, the sector is in full recovery. First, a number of Government incentives have made a difference, among them the scrapping of VAT for park entry fees, concessions for younger visitors and a vigorous new marketing campaign.

"Tourist numbers and occupancy have both recovered," said Esipisu's statement that indicated that Kenya "has been privileged to play host to a number of international conferences: from the VI Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development (Ticad), to the recent meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad)."

The statement also said during his stay at the Coast, Uhuru will meet and consult local leaders on various matters, including devolution.

Those expected to be present at the summit are Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia and his Principal Secretary Irungu Nyakera, Internal Security CS Joseph Nkaissery and Narok Governor Samuel Tunai who is the Council of Governors chairman of the Tourism and Wildlife Committee.

Yesterday evening, Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala said industry players would have an opportunity to take on the Government regarding key issues affecting the fragile sector.

"The Jubilee administration has deemed it fit to enter into dialogue with key stakeholders from various spheres of the economy and it is now the turn of tourism players to engage and set the agenda for the way forward," said Balala who was flanked by his Principal Secretary, Fatma Hirsi.

About 150 delegates have been invited to attend the summit.