Kenya looks forward for Tourism – Assures Visitors it is Safe Place to Be

Kenya tourism was a steady rise in the last decade but due to the recent terror attack at the famous Nairobi
Mall by the Somali armed group Al-Shabab, it seems there will be a change and fall in the tourism. In the attack, 67 civilians are killed.

With the attack, the head of the World Travel and Tourism Council urged the Kenyan government and the tour operators to assure the visitors that the Kenya is a safe and better place to be for tours. If the government would fail to do so, tourism of Kenya will go through a dark phase

Given the attack, the head of the World Travel and Tourism Council on Tuesday urged the Kenyan government and tour operators to reassure potential visitors about coming to the country. Otherwise, he said, people could think Kenya is no longer a safe place to visit.

Tourism in this country is a shield of Kenyan economy and the billion dollar tourism industry accounts for 12.5 percent and out of the 10 jobs in Kenya 1 is provided by the tourism.

“The government of Kenya and the private sector need to communicate very clearly as the mall attack is one specific incident that is now contained,”David Scowsills, head of the WTTC, a global forum for business leaders in the industry, told Agence France Press.

“With the attack, there is no impact on the wider travel and tourism in Kenya as most of the tour places are outside the main city,” Scowsill added.

Kenya is the richest country in Africa’, but even though half of its population lives on less than one dollar a day.

The country has been facing several problems related to tourism in the past. In the year 1998 it was rocked by a car bomb attack which killed around 213 and another dip in the tourism was in 2008,  when ethnic violence wracked the country after presidential elections.

Scowsill said the drop in the tourism is due to the attack on the mall by the Somali armed group Al-Shabab and he believes that the effect will not be permanent.

“With these kinds of incident, tourism usually dip for two to three months and then it again starts to bounce back,” he said. “ I expect that within six months, Kenya tourism will be back to normal if all the communications and proper initiative is been take to bring back, without letting any further incident.” 

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