Category: Tourism

{{The number of tourists visiting the country is expected to double to 2 million by 2017, according to the Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB).}}

“We expect to reach 2 million tourist arrivals by 2017,” Reuters news agency quoted TTB acting managing director Devota Mdachi as saying at the weekend.

“With more international airlines flying into Tanzania … improved infrastructure, increased tourism investments and marketing, we can reach that target,” she said.

Tourist arrivals broke the 1 million-barrier for the first time in 2012 when the number of foreign visitors surged 24 per cent. The number rose 1.7 per cent in 2013 to 1.095 million, bringing in $1.85 billion (Sh3.15 trillion). Most of the visitors came from Britain, Germany, the United States and Italy.

A surge in visitors to Tanzania in the past two years has chipped away at Kenya’s dominance and boosted Tanzania’s ambitions to become a regional tourist hub. The steep increase in the number of tourists poses a direct challenge to regional rival Kenya where militant attacks have scared away visitors in the last three years.

Tourist arrivals in Kenya slid last year to 1.5 million after an all-time high of 1.8 million in 2011. In the first quarter of 2014 the number of visitors dropped 4 per cent compared to 2013. A leading Kenyan hotel chain said the real figures were worse.

Frequent attacks by Somali militants have had a devastating effect on Kenya’s tourism industry, scaring away tourists, some of whom looked elsewhere for tropical beaches and wildlife safaris.

Some Western tourists have found that, due to their governments’ travel advisories about the security situation, their travel insurance does not cover them for the Kenyan coast.

Tanzania has experienced nothing like the level of deadly violence that has hit Kenya, which angered militants by sending troops to fight al Shabaab militants in Somalia.

NMG

{{The tourism industry is facing a crisis following reports of cancellations by visitors from overseas that have been triggered by a combination of factors, including the fear of the deadly Ebola fever outbreak.}}

East African Community (EAC) outlined measures to counter the deadly Ebola disease in the region.

The fear of Ebola fever, especially in East Africa—where no case has been detected so far—is driven mainly by the fact that people in the West and some parts of Asia consider Africa a huge tract of land with no borders.

Its not been independently verified whether the cancellations were directly connected to the fear of the Ebola outbreak but some stakeholders interviewed here yesterday appeared to believe that this was the case.

The EAC intervention focuses mainly on air transport that, it is feared, could serve as a conduit for the spread of the disease through the well-connected Nairobi hub from West Africa—where it has killed over 1,400 people.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has placed Kenya in the category of high risk countries for the spread of Ebola virus from West Africa despite the suspension of direct flights from that region.

Nairobi is one of the busiest hubs in eastern and southern Africa—with dozens of connecting flights to West Africa, Europe, Asia and Southern Africa.

National civil aviation and airport authorities and airlines operating in the region have been advised enforce all the relevant regulations and guidelines issued by WHO, International Air Transportation Association (IATA) and other bodies.

As the region grapples with how to combat the deadly disease, which is now in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), more hotels and tour operators here admitted they were hard hit by cancellations by visitors from overseas.

The situation on the ground, analysts contend, could be much worse than earlier thought because many establishments in the hospitality sector avoid making negative statements for fear of painting a negative picture of an industry so crucial to the economy.

But Wilbard Chambulo, a tour operator who manages a string of lodges and tented camps in the Serengeti and adjacent areas had a different take. “Why should we hide this from the public and the government?” he asked.

{thecitizen}

The Ol Pejeta Wildlife Conservancy has acquired software that helps identify poachers and counts animals in real time.

In a statement Wednesday, Ol Pejeta’s public relations manager, Ms Elodie Sampere, said the “Rhino Finda” app developed by a student, James Ault, is able to analyse thermal imaging footage to automatically identify a poacher moving within the sanctuary for swift response.

She said the app can accurately count all animals, thereby helping the sanctuary save on costs usually incurred in conducting the largely erroneous physical census.

{{Worldwide competition }}

Mr Ault’s app was chosen following a worldwide competition that attracted app submissions from students. The competition was placed on MindSumo.com, an online marketplace that connects college students to companies and other organisations through challenges.

The challenges represent real-world problems that students can help solve to win prizes and potential career opportunities.

Ol Pejeta challenged the college students from around the world to help in the development of recognition software that uses a combination of visual and thermal signatures to identify wildlife automatically.

“Innovation is a natural part of Ol Pejeta Conservancy’s way of enhancing wildlife protection and conservation. As East Africa’s largest black rhino conservancy and home to a host of other endangered species, we are constantly innovating new ways to enhance our work,” Ms Sampere said.

{White rhinos grazing at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia County,Kenya on August 5, 2014. The private conservancy is believed to be East Africa’s largest black rhino sanctuary}

{{A Russian tourist was shot and killed while touring a historical site in Kenya’s port city of Mombasa on Sunday, police said.}}

“It is unfortunate the lady who was shot has succumbed to injuries,” Mombasa’s deputy divisional police chief Tom Okoth said, confirming the woman’s nationality as Russian.

According to police, the tourist was touring Fort Jesus – a 16th century Portuguese-built fort and a UNESCO World Heritage Site – with two other people when three gunmen opened fire and grabbed a bag containing cameras, phones and other personal belongings.

Okoth said police were searching for the attackers and an investigation had been launched.

Mombasa has been the scene of worsening unrest in recent months with a string of shootings and bombings blamed on Somalia’s Shabaab rebels or local supporters.

The shooting occurred after at least 18 people were killed in overnight attacks more than 300 kilometres (190 miles) up the coast in the Lamu region. The Shabaab claimed those killings.

Last month the Shabaab, which has carried out a number of attacks on Kenyan soil in retaliation for Kenya’s military intervention in Somalia, warned foreign tourists to stay out of Kenya.

“Kenya is now officially a war zone and as such any tourists visiting the country do so at their own peril,” the group said in a statement less than three weeks ago.

Kenya also suffers from high levels of violent crime and robberies.

In May several countries stepped up their warnings to travellers, with Britain, France, Australia and the United States telling their citizens to avoid all but essential travel to Mombasa.

capitalFM

{{A consignment of ivory worth millions of shillings has been impounded by police in Mombasa.}}

The elephant tusks said to number more than 200, were seized at a yard in Tudor estate early on Thursday morning.

Mombasa police boss Geofrey Mayek stated that they had arrested a Kenyan following discovery of the tusks.

“It is suspected that the tusks were hacked from at least 114 elephants from Tsavo National Park and other neighbouring parks in the region,” an official from the Kenya Wildlife Service stated.

The government overhauled national wildlife legislation by approving the Wildlife Bill in one of the swiftest responses to the recent reports of escalating poaching of elephants and rhinos.

The legislation was operationalised early this year and attracts the world’s most severe penalties.

Offences against all endangered species including elephants and rhinos, or their products now attracts a fine of Sh20 million or life imprisonment

Kenya has been identified as one of the leading transit routes for smuggling ivory out of Africa, with several incidents of ivory seizures and recovery of wildlife carcasses in recent days.

The poaching menace has brought renewed attention to a crisis that has persisted for decades with the steady decline of Africa’s wildlife due to growing human populations and poverty that has put agricultural communities at odds with wildlife for resources.

Conflict between land for wildlife and land for farmers and pastoralists in Kenya has also reached crisis level with rampant killing of lions and elephants among other types of wildlife.

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{{Kenyans working in the private sector will from next month enjoy paid-up holidays anywhere in the country, as the government seeks to revive the tourism industry reeling from insecurity. }}

In a statement released from State House, Nairobi, President Uhuru Kenyatta said that from June 12, companies would be allowed to pay for their employees going on their annual leave and deduct such expenditure in their taxes.

“Through this measure, we shall directly give at least 25,000 Kenyans a chance to go for a week’s holiday every month at the expense of their employers, bringing over 300,000 additional Kenyan guests in our hotels throughout the country,” Mr Kenyatta said.

This is part of a new raft of policy measures taken by the government to revamp tourism, which is on its knees following the issuance of travel advisories by major source markets due to high insecurity.

The steps were agreed upon during a crisis meeting held at State House, Nairobi, between the President and stakeholders to look into new ways of reviving a sector that is a key pillar to the economy.

The initiative is meant to reduce the impact of the travel advisories, while in the long run boosting local tourism.

Last week, British tour companies evacuated more than 300 visitors from Kenya following a warning by the UK Government of impending terrorist attacks.

The government has also agreed to exempt all air-ticketing services by travel agents from Value Added Tax (VAT) to boost the country’s competitiveness as a preferred tourist destination in the region. The exemption takes effect from May 29.

And the Kenya Revenue Authority was instructed to clear all outstanding income tax-related refunds owed to the tourism industry, also by May 29.

“We expect this measure to improve sector liquidity and cash-flow,” Mr Kenyatta said.

The President also directed that all budgetary resources earmarked for foreign visits at the National Government level be reallocated to domestic travel to further boost tourism sector recovery.

“Similarly, we urge Parliament and the Judiciary to do the same. We also urge the county governments to do the same,” said Mr Kenyatta.

The proposed changes will be factored into the Budget for the 2014/15 financial year set to be tabled in Parliament next month.

A decision was also reached to lift the ban restricting the public service from holding conferences and meetings in private hotels.

The industry has also agreed to give Kenyans better vacation packages than those offered to international visitors. Under the preferential treatment, Kenyans will pay about Sh5,200 daily per person on full-board.

Nation