Nairobi — Kenya is among eight countries set to benefit from the UNESCO Covid-19 crisis response programme aimed at supporting tourism recovery around World Heritage Sites.
Sensitization of the project has kicked off in Lamu and Mombasa targeted at those earning a living through tourism economic activities such as artisanship and tour guiding among others.
According to UNESCO National program officer -East Africa Judith Ogana, the project is aimed at building resilience in places of tourism interest that were negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The project themed around "Promoting Sustainable Tourism and Private Sector Engagement for Inclusive Community Development in Response to the Covid-19 crisis is focused on UNESCO heritage sites of Lamu Old Town and Fort Jesus in Mombasa," said Ogana.
Ogana disclosed that the incentives to boost sustainable tourism practices would include training and capacity building for key stakeholders in the sector as well as promotion of investment in cultural heritage preservation, and creation of short-term job opportunities by utilizing culture and heritage as a source of resilience.
She said the sustainability of the project was entirely dependent on community involvement.
"We have to be sustainable as tourist destinations by engaging the community. This is a catalyst project and we hope that the youth and players will continue to protect and preserve their tourism business beyond the project," said Ogana.
Speaking while receiving the project sensitization team at his offices, Lamu county governor Issa Timamy lauded UNESCO for initiating the Project, which he said, was key in supporting tourism recovery around Lamu.
He said Lamu County has been in the global limelight owing to its status as a heritage site and praised the community in the region for preserving the culture.
"The outstanding culture and traditional way of life, the architecture of our buildings in old town is the highlight of our unique culture. We are playing the role of custodians to this heritage that we strive to ensure it remains on the UNESCO heritage list," said the Governor.
Mombasa governor Abdulswamad Nassir on his part while pledging his administration's support on the implementation of UNESCO programs disclosed that the county had a capacity and potential for cultural tourism besides other attractions known of the county such as the beach.
He said the county would realize its tourism boom once the open sky policy he has been pushing for is realized.
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"We will get a tourism boom with open sky policy being in a place like it is happening in other destinations such as Zanzibar that receives about 12 international flights daily," said Nassir.
The UNESCO programme which is also supported by the Kenya Tourism Board and the National Museums of Kenya is part of a wider campaign aimed at catalyzing new measures and approaches for sustainable tourism at World Heritage destinations.
Other countries selected for the programme include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Georgia, Indonesia, Morocco, Namibia, and Vietnam.
Tourism was among the most hit sectors by the Covid-19 pandemic recording millions of losses and thousands of jobs lost but is slowly recovering.
The Ministry of Tourism is optimistic to reach its pre-covid levels with the number of international tourists visiting the country since January to August growing by 91.3 per cent to 924,812, up from 483, 246 in the same period last year.
This came with a jump in inbound tourism earnings which more than doubled to Sh167.1 billion compared to the Sh83.2 billion recorded in a similar period last year.
