By Damas Makangale, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
The coast of Kenya
could experience a slightly declining of tourists that affects hotels and other
accommodation including the all tourism sector due to Ebola outbreak.
Speaking to the East
African Business Week in Dar es Salaam last week, the Director of the African
Department in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms Antoinette Sayeh said
that it could not be a significantly impact to the Kenyan tourism sector.
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| Tourist in Kenyan |
She said that the
Ebola outbreak could have much larger regional spillovers, especially if it is
more protracted or spreads to other countries with trade, tourism and
investment confidence severely affected.
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| Areas of tourism in Kenya |
In addition, the
security situation continues to be difficult in Central African Republic and
South Sudan and remains precarious in Northern Mali, Northern Nigeria and the
coast of Kenya.
Furthermore this has
come when recently reported earnings from tourism sector declined two percent
while tourist numbers declined 11.7 percent last year for the third consecutive
year. The decline is on the back of growing insecurity and recently imposed
value added tax on tourism services.
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| The victim of Ebola disease gets treatment |
Arrivals from major
traditional as well as new tourist source markets also reduced. Kenya also
experienced a decline of tourists from the populous China that was among those
earmarked as key growth market for the country as it looks for alternative
markets to cushion against reduction in visitor numbers from West European and
North American countries.
Last year, the
industry earned Kenya Sh93.97 billion compared to the previous year (2012)
where the country closed with a total of Sh96.2 billion and Sh97.9 billion in
2011.
Tourism Cabinet
secretary Phyllis Kandie attributed the drop to increased insecurity
incidences, especially Nairobi and Mombasa. “Security is the single most
factors that tourists consider before visiting any destination in the world and
lack of it in our country clearly demonstrates this sharp decline,” she said at
a press briefing.
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