Tourism players in Mombasa have questioned President Uhuru Kenyatta's directives to boost the sector, terming it unrealistic.
Speaking during a stakeholders meeting at Nyali Beach Hotel, Kenya Association for Hotel-keepers and Caterers (KAHC) chief executive officer Mike Macharia said Government needed to have a flexible tourism policy.
“Part of the proposals that we have made and we want to push is on top of the landing fee waiver is a situation whereby we have an open side policy for Mombasa that will enable more people to come in,” He said.
Mr Macharia insisted that if there are more flights coming in, Kenya would have more tourists and this would also be made better if the negative travel advisories are lifted.
“There is a 40 per cent landing fee which is attractive, it can only work if the ban is lifted. If I went to the UK, the clients may not likely come even with the low landing fee for flights.
The CEO told the press that the proposal on outstanding income tax-related refunds owed to the tourism industry players to be paid out by Kenya Revenue Authority was null and void.
He said very few players owed KRA and therefore nobody would really benefit.
The only promising move for the industry was the directive allowing the public sector to hold conferences and meetings in private hotels throughout the country, he added.
LAY OFF WORKERS
KAHC Executive Director Sam Ikweya Wednesday said that they have had to lay off their workers earlier than expected despite this being a low season for the industry.
“We are still feeling the effect of the travel advisories and some of our members have had to lay off their staff; this has come right at the time of the low season between May and July. We usually go through this cycle but we are seeing a situation where we have started it much earlier,” He said.
Mr Ikwaye appealed to the United Kingdom, France Australia and the United States of America to re-look at the position of the travel advisory reviews. “If things change we will easily recall all our staff,” he added.
He said there was dire need to address the issue of insecurity in the country, lifting of the travel bans and also diversify tourism products in the country.
Mr Ikwaye said the incentives that were announced by the President cannot replace the number of tourists lost following the travel advisories.
He advised that the industry players needed to look at the areas that they can make quick gains like reduced park and aircraft landing fees especially for Moi International airport and the revoked National Treasury Circular that restricted the public service from holding conferences and other meetings in private hotels.
Mr Ikwaye acknowledged that more than 20 hotels in Malindi, Watamu and Kilifi and five others in Diani, South Coast, had closed down.
The players in the industry said that the country needs medium and a long term plan in ensuring that Kenya welcomes three million tourists annually as envisaged in the country's economic blue print Vision 2030.
“We should not abandon the vision, even after this crisis is over which we believe will come to pass, we need a medium or long term plan so that we can cushion ourselves in future for recurrent crisis,” Mr Macharia said.
Last week, President Kenyatta revoked a circular restricting the Public Service from holding conferences and other meetings in private hotels.
He also said private companies would get tax relief on the money they spend on holidays for their staff.
The measures were meant to help the hotels overcome the challenges posed by the downturn in tourism.
Kenya has also embarked on an aggressive online marketing campaign to lure more tourists from various parts of the world, including China, and to counter the negative publicity generated by the advisories and recent grenade attacks targeting the country.
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