66 REGION AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST ITB BERLIN NEWS • Wednesday 9 th March 2016 www.itb-berlin-news.com
AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST REGION 67 Kenya is Back Tourism minister Najib Balala outlines ambitious plans to rekindle travel to his nation In a 2015 speech given by Kenya’s most famed son, US President Barak Obama, – in a packed stadium in Nairobi –, the President stated, “When it comes to the people of Kenya, especially the youth, I believe there is no limit to what you can achieve. You can build your future right here, right now.” Indeed, the current government has set about working on ways to bring confidence back to the nation’s tourism industry, with, among other things, the reinstatement of former tourism minister, Najib Balala, into his portfolio. We asked the minister what he sees as being his key challenges. I’m not going to talk about challenges; I will talk about solutions. The government has taken charge of the security situation. In terms of marketing, the government has given us enough resources to market this country. In terms of infrastructure, we have already started major road works as well as the expansion of Malindi airport, a brand new airport in Lamu and the new Greenfield terminal at Nairobi airport, which, when it opens next year, is going to bring in almost 20 million extra passengers. Travel advisories have been lifted. It’s up to us to encourage all the players in the sector that we need to do more in terms of bringing tourists to this destination. You are encouraging families through the wavering of visa fees for children. How is this coming along? Kenya is good for families, and we want to encourage children to understand the importance of conserving wildlife. That’s Giraffe Masai Mara why, through the wisdom of His Excellency the President, a decision was made to scrap visa fees for children, effective from February 2016. As more children come to Kenya, we will have more champions for conservation! This has been received very positively, particularly in European source markets. The Beach Management Programme is being revamped. What does this entail? We are initiating two programmes. One is the beach management programme in which we want to designate the beach as a safe and secure destination without harassment of beach operators and beach boys, and also to promote cleanliness. That is a localised issue. I am already in discussion with the political leadership in Mombasa and other key beach destinations so that we can have regulations with which to manage the beaches. We are also aware that Kenya is an old, known destination. We need to start refurbishing our properties, improving the quality of product and modernising our properties. The President has announced a state fund to assist operators in the refurbishment of hotels and lodges. Concerning infrastructure, a new project has already started in Mombasa, in cooperation with the British government, for the building of an eight-lane superhighway from the airport to the city. The President has also announced a new highway from Lamu to Malindi. That will improve communication, but also security will be improved in that area. The President has restructured the management of Kenya’s ferry services, and there is already a great improvement in efficiency with the routes to the south coast. Two new ferries will also be added in the next year to further improve safety and traffic in the southern region. Negative travel advisories have no doubt been detrimental to tourism figures in the recent past. What is the current status? There has been a lot of investment by the government… serious investment – from equipping the police with vehicles, arms and ammunition to improving the numbers and greatly increasing the number of checkpoints. We have also brought in the Ambassadors and the High Commissioners who are based in Nairobi to this area, and showed them the programme on the action we have taken at a government level. That has convinced the diplomats that Kenya is safe and they are communicating this to their capitals. Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda recently established a single visa for travel throughout the three countries. How successful has this been? It’s one of the best partnerships we have established. It’s working very well for people who want to visit more than one country, for example to visit the gorillas in Rwanda. We are now going to the second stage to promote worldwide the three countries as a mono-destination. We are working on the logistics for this, and we are committed to making it work. We believe the East African Community Economic Block is good for all of us, because we are going to expand the market, and have a diversity of products, which is what the tourists want. It’s good for tourism, it’s good for the economy, and it will make the communication and transport easier for visitors throughout the region. Najib Balala Kenya Tourism minister THE PRESIDENT HAS ANNOUNCED A STATE FUND TO ASSIST OPERATORS IN THE REFURBISHMENT OF HOTELS AND LODGES Hall 21A / Stand 120 ITB BERLIN NEWS • Wednesday 9 th March 2016
