Key Players in the Tourism Industry have asked the Government to implement the Open Skies Policy to ensure Tourism hubs attract more International Airlines in order to boost the economy of the Country through the Tourism Sector.
Open skies Policy in civil aviation aims to ease access to national airports for international airlines to increase the flow of tourists and develop their potential as regional air hubs.
This will see airlines from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and other EAC states operate across borders without restrictions.
Speaking during the first Regional Hospitality Leadership Summit Eastern Africa held at Sarova Whitesands, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kenya Coast Tourist Association, Julius Owino said that they have had a meeting with Mombasa County Leadership and will soon have a caucus of all key tourism players and leaders in the Coast Region to present a position paper to the parliament about the Open Sky Policy.
Applauding the theme of the conference ‘Redefining Hospitality, recovering for future growth in the Region’ Owino said that 70 percent of the hospitality business in the country has been from domestic Tourism since the recovery of the industry from Covid-19.
“As we are still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, we are here to build synergy and discuss how we can work together as a region to market the destination,” Owino said.
“The main challenge that East Africa is facing as a destination is the connectivity issue because we are getting very few direct flights from international flights like Dubai to Mombasa to mention but a few,” Owino added.
Owino noted that the remaining flights coming in are charter flights that cannot be fully relied on.
He added that Mombasa previously received 30 or more chatter flights in a month while less than five are being received currently.
“If the government is not ready to fully implement the open sky policy, we are appealing for it to allow the flights that used to fly in directly like the Turkish and Qatar Airways to receive more tourists,” Owino concluded.
CEO of Distant Relatives Eco Lodge and Backpackers, Kilifi, Monase Ahmed said that the hospitality industry is working on integrating environmental conservation and ethical hospitality.
“Hospitality and tourism at large revolve around people, resources and the environment hence we are here to discuss and share how we can incorporate more conservation so that our industry can thrive, “Monase said.
Monase said that the summit is to discuss how the Hospitality industry can benefit both the local community and economy while being more earth conscious.
The Group Managing Director of Victory Global Impact who is also the Organizer of the Summit, Enock Makanga, said that the summit has brought together more than 100 delegates from Eastern Africa and over 25 exhibitors from the hospitality industry.
“We are here to mainly discuss the challenges facing the hospitality industry and come up with effective solutions which I am sure we will achieve at the end of this 3-day conference,” Makanga said.
By Fatuma Said
