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(Is KATO taking the
responsibilities?)
Tourists urged to ignore
travel advisories
Business Daily
Written by Michael Njuguna and George Omondi
25. 02. 2008
Tour operators have accused foreign missions of exaggerating
Kenya’s crisis, thus hurting tourism. (Reuters)
February 26, 2008: Foreign missions’ assessment of Kenya’s crisis
may not be accurate, tour operators have said.
Through their umbrealla body, the Kenya Association of Tour
Operators (KATO), they are blaming the current image crisis on the
missions, who they claim have exaggerated the concerns on
insecurity.
The misrepresentation, the association says, has previously
depressed and now threatens the survival of the tourism sector.
Mr Duncan Muriuki, the KATO chairman, took issue with an embassy
that, he said, issued an advisory asking its nationals to stay
indoors whenever in Kenya for their safety.
“Such advisories amount to economic sanctions against Kenya as no
tourist or tour operator has encountered any form of hostility or
had been subjected to any form of violence,” Mr Muriuki told
journalists at the Lake Nakuru National Park.
They urged tourists to ignore the advisories and visit Kenya to
enjoy the country’s rich resources.
“All the roads leading to Nakuru Town from Nairobi are safe. We
urge tourists to ignore the advisories and enjoy the rich wildlife
in the Park,” Mr Charles Muthui, a Senior Warden in charge of the
Lake Nakuru National Park, said.
The tour operators were in a team of tourism stakeholders led by
the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) boss, Dr Ongong’a Achieng’, who
toured the Lake Nakuru National Park following a fire razed 50
square kms of pasture.
He said the travel advisories were hurting poor innocent Kenyans
who derived their livelihood from tourism related activities.
He cited groups such as curio dealers, hotel workers, tour guides
and farmers who had been greatly hurt by the drop in the number of
tourists.
Mr Muthui said the number of visitors to the park had dropped
sharply as a result of the advisories issued by some foreign
embassies in Nairobi.
Prior to December, the park with close to a million flamingoes,
more than 100 black and white rhinos and more than 400 bird
species was receiving an average of 600 visitors daily and earning
about Sh1.6 million.
But due to negative publicity, gate collections at the park have
gone down to about Sh120,000 daily, less than a tenth of normal
revenue.
Dr Ong’ong’a added that Coast Province, Mombasa in particular, had
been hard hit by the drop in the number of tourists visiting the
area.
The park’s management said the fire that lasted three days did not
destroy the park’s leading attractions.
“We have not encountered carcasses of any big game such as
buffaloes, giraffes, lions, leopards, rhinos, impala or gazelles,
but it is possible that smaller animals could have perished in the
inferno,” said Mr Muthui.
The first fire started at the Soysambu Ranch on Thursday, but
another started at Nairobi Road village outside the Park on Friday
and continued burning until Saturday afternoon when it was
contained by a team of KWS wardens and Kenya Army firefighters.
The loss of pasture , however, is likely to result in severe
overgrazing.
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