expansion of Ukunda Air Strip.
In Summary
The Tourism Summit comes at a time when hotels in Mombasa have been busy thanks to domestic tourism bolstered by school holidays and the Mombasa International Show which begins on Wednesday.
Due to the large number of locals, hotel occupancy in Mombasa is averaging at 80 per cent, Diani in Kwale County at 60 per cent, Watamu in Kilifi County at 40 per cent and Malindi at 30 per cent.
The international tourist drought in the region has been attributed to few charter flights of eight a week at Moi International Airport, Mombasa, compared with 40 a week in 2011.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to host a Tourism Summit at State House, Mombasa, on Wednesday morning.
This month, the Head of State has held Summits at State House, Nairobi, including Transport and Infrastructure Summit and Agriculture Summit.
The Tourism Summit comes at a time when hotels in Mombasa have been busy thanks to domestic tourism bolstered by school holidays and the Mombasa International Show which begins on Wednesday.
Due to the large number of locals, hotel occupancy in Mombasa is averaging at 80 per cent, Diani in Kwale County at 60 per cent, Watamu in Kilifi County at 40 per cent and Malindi at 30 per cent.
But the number of local tourists is expected to plummet in the region as schools countrywide reopen on Monday.
On the other hand, although it’s high tourist season, international guest occupancy in hotels is averaging at below 10 per cent compared with 20 and 50 per cent during the peak period in 2011.
The international tourist drought in the region has been attributed to few charter flights of eight a week at Moi International Airport, Mombasa, compared with 40 a week in 2011.
Despite the few charter flights from Europe to Mombasa, the bulk of the tourists, who arrive at Moi Airport are in transit to Zanzibar.
Hoteliers and tour operators from across the region expect the Head of State to address the challenges plaguing the sector.
On Sunday, Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers (KAHC) Kilifi County branch chairman Philip Chai said he wants the President to address the thorny issue of open skies policy at Moi Airport.
The hotelier said following the sharp drop in charter flights, there is need for the government to allow more international airlines to operate scheduled flights to Mombasa.
Currently, only German leisure airline Condor, Small Planet from Poland, Meridiana Fly and Neosair from Italy operate charter flights to Mombasa.
“The reason why tourism is on its knees in Malindi is because there are very few charter flights from Italy to Mombasa,” he said.
The KAHC official said he does not understand why the government was not allowing more international airlines to operate scheduled flights to Mombasa.
At the moment, Turkish Airlines is the only carrier from Europe which operates scheduled flights from Istanbul to Mombasa and two regional airlines Ethiopian Airlines and RwandAir.
Mr Chai also wants the President to intervene over the slow progress in expansion of the Malindi airport.
“We want the Malindi airport to be expanded so that it can handle direct flights from Europe to Mombasa to boost international tourist arrivals,” he said.
KAHC Coast executive officer Sam Ikwaye, said he expects the Head of State to address the challenges hotel-owners face in accessing duty exemption on importation of building materials.
“Although the government exempted duty on importation of materials to enable hoteliers to renovate their establishments they are unable to benefit from the incentive due to red-tape,” he said.
COLLEGE CONTROVERSY
Mr Ikwaye added that he wants the President to address the controversy surrounding the construction of the Ronald Ngala Utalii College.
He said the implementation of the college has been politicized yet it could help address the challenges of lack of training opportunities in the region.
“If there are officials who were involved in corruption let them face the law but let the construction of the college go ahead to completion,” he added.
Kenya Association of Tour Operators Coast branch chairperson Monika Solanki, welcomed the President’s move to host a Tourism Summit at State House, Mombasa.
“Things are not going on well at the Coast as the number of international visitors is very low. We hope the Summit will come up with ways of uplifting tourism in the region,” she said.
In Diani, Swahili Beach Resort general manager Jeff Mukolwe, said he expects the President to fast track the expansion of Ukunda Air Strip.
He added that although the government pledged to expand the air strip, the project seems to have stagnated.
“Currently, only small planes can land at the Ukunda air strip. We want it to be expanded so that it can handle bigger planes for tourist arrivals to improve,” he said.
He also wants the Kenya Tourism Board to prioritise marketing on the African continent rather than Europe due to low number of tourists coming to Mombasa from the Western countries.
Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort general manager Raj Jadhav said the hotel was busy owing to locals and conferences.
However, he noted that international guest numbers were at four per cent and called on the marketing agency to do more marketing in overseas markets to woo more holidaymakers to come to Mombasa.
