Mazera Ndurya And Mathias Ringa
15 January 2008
Nairobi — The Kenya Airways will soon cancel direct flights from Mombasa.
Chairman, Association of Professional Holiday Representatives, Kenya, Mr Paul Kurgat (second right), vice chairman Mr Peter Gathungu (second left) and organising secretary Mr Shadrack Matano address the media at the Harler Park's Butterfly Pavilion. Photo/GIDEON MAUNDU
The Kenya Airways Coast region sales manager, Mrs Maureen Onyango, said the most affected routes include direct flights from Mombasa to Johannesburg, whose cancellation will be effected on January 27 and Mombasa-London to be cancelled from February 1.
"It is not making any business sense to continue with flights that are no longer lucrative. Passengers will now have to travel to South Africa through Nairobi," she said.
However, she adds that the company is planning to upgrade routes that have not been affected yet, like Bombay and Dubai.
The Kenya Association of Tour Operators (KATO) Coast, Tasneem Adamji, said that from last December 31, the association has been losing 4,500 charter seats weekly.
"European tour operators have now started bringing in empty flights to take the remaining tourists back to their countries," she said.
The KTB managing director, Dr Ongong'a Achieng, said the projection for the first quarter of 2008 of Sh24 billion of revenue, will now go down to Sh8 billion following the slump of the industry.
Dr Achieng said some hotels had already lost up to Sh50 million after the recent chaos.
The KTB boss said the ministry of Tourism had constituted a crisis committee chaired by Tourism PS Rebecca Nabutola and incorporated key players like KWS, KTB, hoteliers and other players in the industry to come up with a recovery plan to save the situation.
Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers (KAHC) Coast branch chairman, Mohamed Hersi, said for the first time in history, the Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort had lost business amounting to 28 per cent.
And Abercrombie and Kent Managing Director, Auni Kanji, said they were expecting to lose a huge amount of revenue in the first six months of the year. "Many cruise ships, with one that was slated for February from Japan, have already cancelled their trips," Mr Kanji said.
"Business meant for Kenya is now being diverted to Zanzibar where the demand for accommodation has outstripped available facilities," he added.
He said the calendar for cruise ships coming to Kenya normally is between January and April, but most of the cruise ships have called off their trips over security concerns in the country.
The Kenya Association of Professional Holiday Representatives chairman, Paul Kurgat, said tour firms are faced with the prospect of laying off its entire workforce, following lack of business caused by the recent chaos in the country.
Addressing a press conference at Butterfly Pavilion in Mombasa, Mr Kurgat urged the authorities to offer a comprehensive assurance to major tour firms in Europe that the country was now safe for holidays.
He said some foreign media blew the chaos in the country out of proportion, thus dealing a blow to the industry.
Meanwhile, a serious drop in the number of tourists visiting Tsavo East National Park has been recorded with the daily figures plunging to 170 from 700.
This drop has been attributed to the post-election violence that broke out about three weeks ago following the disputed presidential polls. Many foreign tourists cancelled their holidays in Kenya in the wake of the mayhem.
Addressing the media in his office, Tsavo East senior warden Mr John ole Perio, said most tourists to the park had cancelled their flights to the country affecting tourism in the park, the largest in the country.
"Our daily revenue collection has seen a nosedive from Sh1.5 million to Sh500,000," Mr Perio said.
At its peak, the park makes up to Sh3 million a day, when the visitor figures hit an all time high, he added.
Tsavo West is also undergoing a similar crunch with daily earnings falling from Sh1 million to an all time low of Sh200,000.
Mr Perio, however, said the park is determined to meet its projected revenue earnings of Sh1 billion in the next three years, once the violence stops and tourists begin visiting.
Tsavo East National Park has been leading other parks in the country with a daily average revenue collection of Sh2 million followed by Amboseli with a daily revenue collection of Sh1.5 million and Nakuru National park, which collects Sh1 million daily.
Additional reporting by Pascal Mwandambo
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