According to Chris Modigell, Management Consultant and Project Manager Leopard Beach Resort and Spa, things have never been as miserable for the hospitality industry at the coastal areas of Kenya as they have been in the 2013-2014 fiscal year.
Stating the present scenario of the coastal tourism Modigell told Capital FM Business, “In the years I’ve worked here in Diani, seven hotels have been forced to shut down and only two new hotels have come up. What does that tell you?”
While, in Malindi the Managing Director of Ocean Beach Resort and Spa Roberto Marini told Capital FM Business that in the last year, hotel owners in Kilifi County were strained to dismiss about 16,000 staffs. He also added that in the low season they close some hotels for up to four months at a time as it’s too expensive to keep them open.
Mesalim Charo of the Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary in Kwale confirmed that three years back they used to make around Sh50, 000 per month from selling paper made from Elephant dung to tourists. But now they sell paper worth Sh5, 000 in a month only.
Admitting the miserable state of affairs, the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) Managing Director Muriithi Ndegwa relayed, “At one point the coast attracted up to 60 percent of the tourists who flew into Kenya annually. Now it’s attracting only 20 percent and so we have all these hotels with all this room to spare”.
The Ministry of East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism with the Cabinet Secretary Phyllis Kandie, has advised KTB to multiply its efforts at marketing the coastline destination to the wider domestic market that is the East African Community.
