Tourism Fund is expecting to tax supermarkets and convenient stores 2 per cent tourism levy on gross sales from sales and drinks monthly.
The tax shall be paid on or before the tenth day of the subsequent month, failure to which it will attract an instant penalty of Sh.5000.
Speaking on Thursday during a meeting with supermarkets owners and tourism stakeholders the Tourism Fund in Nairobi, Board of Trustees Chairman, Alphonce Kioko explained that the levy to be paid will help a lot the tourism sector in the country.
He said that the levy will contribute a lot to tourism fund finances that will be channeled to various bodies that will work to revive the slump in tourism.
“The tourism levy collected will not only finance the marketing of Kenya as a tourist destination through the tourism board but also finance the activities of the protection services,” said Kioko.
Kioko further explained that the levy will fund the activities of the tourism sector safety, communication and Crisis Management Centre and will mobilize resources to support tourism related activities.
“This tax will finance training and capacity development activities of the college and other tourism hospitality training institution,” he added.
Kioko reiterated that the taxes received in the past from the hospitality industry has made the organization to increase disbursement of finances to hospitality institutions and partnering with university to offer tailor made courses that will enhance the standard of services offered and marketing Kenya to the outside world as the best tourist destination.
He said the organization is exploring more ways to improve services by building a strong collaborative initiative with the private sector.
The Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers (KAHC) Chief Executive Officer, Mike Macharia said that through their tourism levy remittance the organization has highly benefitted.
“We have experienced improved number of tourists, our employees have been able to go for refresher courses making them better and formation of tourism professional association,” said Macharia.
The Tourism Fund CEO, Joseph Cherutoi said that their intention is to diversify the resource base for financing development of sustainable tourism industry through innovation, service excellence and stakeholder engagement.
By Purity Mumbua/Peter Ochol
