Kenya scoops nine tourism awards

British High Commissioner Christian Turner (second right) and tourism officials at Sarova Whitesands Beach on Thursday after a meeting where he announced the UK had lifted its travel advisory. [Photo: Maarufu Mohamed]

Tourism stakeholders at the Coast have hailed the United Kingdom (UK) for lifting its travel advisory and called on the government to launch an aggressive campaign to market the country as a secure destination.

Barely a week after the UK lifted the non-essential travel ban, the country’s tourism facilities dominated the World Travel Award gala ceremony in Seychelles at the weekend, scooping nine awards in various categories.

Commerce and Tourism Principal Secretary Ibrahim Mohammed said the industry’s performance at the gala will go a long way in building the country’s brand.

Kenya Tourism Board led the pack by retaining the Africa’s leading tourism board for the fourth time in a row.

Leading park

Maasai Mara Game Reserve was voted Africa’s leading National Park with Diani Beach clinching Africa’s leading beach destination.

Twiga Tours was ranked Africa’s leading luxury safari destination as well as Africa’s responsible tourism company.

Carlson Wagonlit topped as Kenya’s leading travel management company as well as Kenya’s leading travel company.

Naivaisha-based Enashipai won as Kenya’s leading spa while Nairobi’s Serena triumphed as Kenya’s leading business hotel. Serena was also crowned Kenya’s green hotel.

Sunday, the players were optimistic that the tourism sector would recover in the summer of 2016, which is a review from earlier predictions of 2018.

Kenya received 117,201 visitors from the UK market in 2014 and has always been a leading destination for safaris in British consumers’ minds.

“The earliest (sector could bounce back) could be November or summer of 2016 that starts in June next year,’’ said Kwale Tourism Executive Adan Sheikh.

Sunday, governors and tourism players expressed optimism that the sector, shattered by terrorism in the country, would bounce back earlier than expected following UK’s decision.

Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers (Kahc) had earlier predicted that earliest time the country’s tourism would recover is 2018 and only if the advisories were lifted this year and the government embarked on aggressive marketing.

Tourism attractions

Taveta Governor John Mruttu said given that tourism attractions at the Coast were intertwined, all Coast counties felt the adverse effects of the advisory that led to a drop in arrivals.

“While Mombasa hotels remained empty as a results of a drop in the number of tourists, the same was felt in hotels dotted all over Taita Taveta County and the game parks,” Mr Mruttu said.

He said his administration would leverage on the lifting of the advisory to promote battlefield tourism, a relatively new attraction that exists in Taita Taveta owing to its connection to the infamous First World War.

Coast chapter of Kahc termed the decision as a show of confidence in the security plans the national government had rolled out.

“We stated before that our recovery will start when travel advisories are lifted and we hope the sector would turn around. The biggest winner here is the investor in the sector but the challenge is with the government to support and invest more in security,” said KAHC Executive Officer Sam Ikwaye.

Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya said the region will continue to engage other European countries to also lift their advisories.

“I welcome the move by the UK Government to review the travel advisory and that UK citizens can now visit Diani beach without any restrictions,” said Mvurya.