Edmund Kwena
1 October 2001
The prospects of the US Government launching an all out war on Afghanistan and other countries believed to be harbouring terrorists is sending jitters in the tourism industry.
Although no cancellations of bookings have been reported so far, industry sources said yesterday that the future of the industry would depend on how the Americans react to the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
"So far we have not had any cancellations from America," the tours manager of Micato Tours in, Mr Cliff Lumbasio, said.
He said some of the bookings might have been blocked because of the interruption in communication as a result of the attacks.
Mr Lumbasio said the direction the tourism industry is to take would depend on the American reaction.
"So far we are waiting for any eventuality even though we are still receiving arrivals from the US," Mr Lumbasio said.
He said it was expected that the number of Americans coming for holiday in Kenya would go up from last year, but he could not give any percentages "since more bookings were still expected". Micato's clientele is predominantly American.
The managing director of African Quest Safaris, Miss Tasneem Adamji, said she had not received any cancellations.
"We get few clients from America. We have not been notified of any cancellations," Miss Adamji said.
She said if cancellations were to be made, it would be understandable ". . . because at the moment the preoccupation of most Americans is their safety".
The jitters in the industry emanate from the experience of the Gulf War during which many bookings were cancelled.
Meanwhile, at least five hotels in the Coast have pumped millions of shillings into the refurbishment of their establishments despite the political uncertainty in the country.
Statistics obtained from the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers (KAHC) show that Malindi's Turtle Bay Hotel had invested close to Sh150 million in a refurbishment project.
According to KAHC Coast branch Executive Officer, Mr David Osiro, Tropical Village also in Malindi had used Sh18 million to prepare the hotel for the coming high season.
Others which have undertaken massive renovations include Kilili Baharani and Stephanie's Sea House.
On the North Coast, among the hotels which have started to renovate is Mombasa Beach Hotel, which is expected to host a string of seminars.
In another development, the KAHC yesterday released statistics showing that 122,851 tourists had arrived at the Moi International Airport during the first eight months of this year, an increase of 12.6 per cent over last year when a total of 107,788 tourists were recorded.
This year's figure is however a far cry from that of the first eight months of 1996 when a total of 166,977 arrivals were recorded.
According to Mr Osiro, projections are that this coming high season, the airport may handle upto 200,000 tourists which will be much better than 1999's 165,355, 1998's 137,402 and 1997's 242,822.
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