Nyeri Trade, Tourism, Culture and Cooperatives, Chief Officer, George Mwangi has called for enhanced measures to help boost the tourism sector in the country.
Mwangi says for the country to reap maximum benefits from the multibillion industry, the Government must invest in popularizing the sector right from the grassroots to enable counties to become part of the drivers of the sector.
The Chief Officer was speaking Monday at the FK Resort during a regional stakeholders meeting on the Draft National Tourism Policy and Tourism Act 2024.
“Many Kenyans do not have knowledge about tourism attraction sites in Kenya. For example, Nyeri County has a good number of tourist attractions including the Baden Powell monuments, the Italian Memorial church among others yet local residents rarely visit them,” said Mwangi.
He challenged the State Department for Tourism to partner with the County in popularizing key attraction sites such as the Mount Kenya and Aberdare ranges which he termed as critical sources of revenue and employment opportunities for Kenyans.
The Chief Officer says the county is working hard to build the sector and improve existing tourism sites and facilities in order to woo visitors to such places.
“We have invested a total of twenty million shillings and we intend to invest more in order to improve the local tourism circle at the tourist attraction sites and the heritage sites. There are many opportunities in the tourism sector that can be of benefit to our local community including creating employment for young people. The sector must therefore be embraced both locally and nationally for it to woo more visitors,” he added.
Mr David Kinyangi, Director in the State Department for Tourism stated that the State was formulating an enhanced policy document that will help transform the Tourism industry in the country.
Kinyangi further assured all participants during the forum that their views and concerns would be taken into consideration when coming up with final documents which will spell out how the industry will operate.
Among interventions contained in the National Tourism Policy draft include the establishment of a National Convention Bureau (NCB) to promote centres for conferences, meetings and conventions (MICE) as part of promoting business tourism locally, regionally and internationally.
In addition, the NCB will invest in MICE infrastructure across the county to support and expand business tourism.
Other interventions include tapping the Health and Wellness Tourism segment which has been touted as an upcoming trade in the tourism sector.
The Policy has identified the sector as a potential in the tourism sector owing to the growing number of specialized hospitals, wellness infrastructure and hotels with enhanced transport infrastructure.
“Health and wellness are a growing segment of the travel industry and travelers are increasingly seeking destinations which promote relaxation, rejuvenation and self-care through spa retreats wellness resorts or immersive nature experiences .
In order to promote the health and wellness tourism ,the National Government will support the development and provide incentives for investment in modern and state of the art health and wellness facilities and strengthen Health and wellness value chains amongst stakeholders,” reads section 3.2.7 of the policy document.
The Tourism Bill 2024 proposes the establishment of a Tourism Research Institute as part of a broader structure for providing critical information to the State in improving the tourism sector.
The Institute will be responsible for undertaking research on disaster management, impacts and mitigation and adaptive strategies to climate change and publish an annual report on its findings to relevant agencies, institutions and other stakeholders in the tourism sector.
Tourism Bill also proposes the Institute to support devolved governments by carrying out feasibility studies on tourist development across the country.
The tourism sector in the country is reported to have recorded an improved performance in international arrivals in 2023 by 31.5 percent to stand at 1,951,185 visitors compared to 2022 when arrivals stood at 1,483,752 according to figures from the State Department for Tourism.
Kenya raked a total of Sh352.54 billion in terms of earnings from the tourism sector compared to Sh268.09 billion in 2022 indicating a 31.5 percent growth.
The tourism sector in Africa has been sailing across turbulent seas over the years ranging from insecurity, political instability to the recent Covid 19 pandemic.
Globally a total of 62 million people lost their jobs in the tourism sector leaving only 271 million at work.
Nevertheless, the sector appears to be on a steady recovery trajectory with the UN Barometer indicating that in 2023 global international tourist arrivals grew by 34 percent compared to 2022.
By Samuel Maina and John Bacha
