Mombasa Now

I would estimate it would take until September 2008 before it all might be as it was last year same time. Europeans and Americans seems to either have a short memory or they doesn’t care for long. Or we might just like to put our lifes into the adventure!

/Peter

Government and key players in the tourism industry have launched a marketing campaign to add momentum to the sector’s recovery effort. As part of the offensive, over 200 international travel and lifestyle journalists from Europe, Asia, America and Africa are currently on a familiarisation tour of Kenya.

The campaign is aimed at countering the negative publicity the country received following January’s post-election violence.

However, it may face a rough time if the stalemate over a coalition government is not resolved soon.

Violent clashes between youth protesting the delay in naming a Cabinet and the police occurred in Nairobi, Western and Nyanza provinces.

Speaking during a cocktail party hosted in their honour in Nairobi, Tourism and Wildlife Permanent Secretary Rebecca Nabutola told the visiting journalists to write about their experiences while in the country. "Our hope is that you will tell your readers, viewers and fellow citizens your experiences while in Kenya," said Ms Nabutola.

Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) managing director, Dr Ongong’a Achieng expressed optimism that the industry would bounce back, despite the recent skirmishes.

"We believe the tourism industry will pick up and record the kind of growth we have experienced in the last four years," said Dr Achieng. The Tourism ministry, KTB and other industry players are hosting the journalists.

The journalists are expected to visit 16 carefully chosen sites that will showcase Kenya’s unique attractions from all the tourists’ circuits, including Western, Central, North Rift, Maasai Mara and the Coast, among others.

Source:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200804100093.html

Tourism has for several decades been the country’s single highest income earner, but has of late come under immense threats including from the effects of the violence related to last year’s disputed presidential elections.

Analysts have predicted that tourism could suffer further slumps due to continuing political uncertainty in the country as government coalition partners wrangle over the sharing of Cabinet posts.

But in a gesture to drum up activity for the struggling industry, President Kibaki yesterday urged India with a population of about 1.13 billion to take advantage of its new pact with Africa to promote tourism.

"I recognise the enormous economic benefits that arise from tourism and the fact that it promotes friendship and socio-cultural understanding among nations."

He said Africa has several reliable carriers such as Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, South African Airways and Egypt Air that ply the Indian sub-continent daily, thus providing sufficient facilitation for enhanced commercial interaction in tourism.

Only last month in a bid to speed up efforts to woo back investors and tourists, President Kibaki formed a new State corporation to market the country and restore its image that has been in tatters overseas following two months of the presidential election related violence.

Through a legal notice, the President said the fully publicly-funded corporation, Brand Kenya Board, will co-ordinate all initiatives from marketing the country to maximising their efficiency and ensure the nation is positioned optimally in terms of investment, creditworthiness, tourism and international relations.

Allan Odhiambo

Source:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200804091053.html