Africa Safari News and Travel

Kenya Tourist Board revealed that visitors from African countries are now among the major contributors to tourism earnings of the country.

Tourists from Africa account for a fifth of all tourists who visited the country during the first six months of the year after recording a growth of 18% in number.

Dr Ongong’a Achieng’, managing director Kenya Tourism Board, said the growth in visitor numbers from the continent was pushed by conference attendance following the rehabilitation of the key Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) at a cost of Sh200 million.

KICC managing director Phillip Kisia said the revamped facility has helped reclaim Kenya’s status as an international destination as well as a regional hub for conference tourism.

He revealed that in the last two years, the centre had recorded a 250 per cent growth, where the regional market accounted for 15 per cent, domestic market 40 per cent and international market the rest.

The managing director of Safari Park Hotel, Solomon Matiri, said, Kenyans led the hotel using conference facilities at 30.3 per cent, followed by South Africa and Nigeria.

Last month, Safari Park had 90 conferences with bookings required at one year in advance.

The revenue manager at the Sarova Stanley, Catherine Gachie, said there was a notable increase in tourists across the board, with more women tourists staying in the hotel.

Most of the African tourists staying at the hotel were from South Africa (16 per cent) followed by Tanzania (11 per cent) and Uganda (10 per cent).

The total number tourists to the Kenya by the third quarter of the year were 1.3 million with earnings at Sh49.2 billion, a third of it from domestic tourists.

The Kenya Wildlife Services upgraded and branded more facilities in western Kenya to boost its tourism sector.

Morris Dzoro, the tourism and wildlife minister, said branding national parks and other travel facilities has helped Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to increase its revenue, since they managed better. He added that wildlife management and the tourism policies were being crafted to create a friendly business environment.

Last year, KWS surpassed its Sh1.9 billion target for revenue, raking in Sh2.6 billion shillings after upgrading most of the facilities.

“The branding of our facilities is meant to provide a conducive environment to the staff in the fast changing and demanding global tourism industry,” said the minister during the branding of the Kakamega Forest National Reserve at Buyangu village, Ileho division, Kakamega south district.

It becomes the fourth facility to be branded in the region after Ruma, Saiwa Swamp and Mount Elgon. Infrastructure in Kakamega Forest National park has improved, and conservation measures are given priority. The attitude of the neibhouring community to wildlife have also improved tremendously since KWS has reached out to them and involved them in the project

Kenya Wildlife Services now plans to resolve the human-wildlife conflict in Kamnarok game reserve in Baringo Eastern district of the country by constructing electric fence, and moving the squatters living on trust land to another area.