Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua has announced that his Ministry has set aside Sh20 million to construct a cultural and heritage site in Narok in an effort to expand the tourism industry.
Dr Mutua who spoke in a Narok hotel said the initiative is aimed at increasing foreign tourists from 2.5 million to 10 million tourists per year in the country.
The CS was accompanied by Narok Governor Patrick Ntutu and State Department for Wildlife Principal Secretary (PS) Sylvia Naseya where he said the two levels of government will collaborate to build restrooms along the tourism corridors to improve the comfort of the tourists.
In a bid to achieve this, Dr Mutua said, there is need to change from the traditional products and have a modern way of doing tourism.
“Our products have not changed since 1970. We want to exploit every opportunity so that we can retain the tourists in the country for more days,” he said, adding that the longer the tourists remain in the country, the more the money.
He reiterated that the site will be a centre where the locals display their artifacts, traditional music, and their culture, hence creating a wider tourist attraction in the county.
“Narok is bigger than Maasai Mara National Reserve. Though the National reserve is iconic, there is much more that we can show from our counties,” he continued.
The tourism sector will also identify 15 traditional Maasai homesteads that will be used as model sites for the tourists to stay when they tour the county.
“The tourists do not only come to see wildlife, they also want to interact with the Maasais and get to know their way of life. This can be done if we have a model homestead where they come and spend some days,” he said.
At the same time, he said his ministry will recruit 30 scouts and give three vehicles to help in the conservation efforts.
The CS also said that the county is among six pilot counties that will receive funding for human-wildlife conflicts compensation.
Governor Ntutu said Narok is endowed with numerous beautiful tourism sites among them Loita forest, Maasai Mau forest, Maji moto hot spring, Suswa caves among others.
He said they will map up these new areas so as to get away from the traditional products.
By Ann Salaton
