Kenya Lures Back Tourists Following Political Unrest

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By Nicholas Luckenbaugh

In the wake of Kenya’s post-election conflict, the Kenya Tourist Board launched the first phase of its campaign to bolster the country’s injured economy last month, flying over 200 foreign journalists into Kenya.

The journalists’ itineraries showcased the beauty spots across Kenya, emphasizing the nation’s attractions. Board officials hope that this endeavor will help counter the negative publicity that the country has received in the global media since outbreaks of violence following the December election.

“We wanted them to touch Kenya. We wanted them to smell Kenya. We wanted them to feel Kenya,” said Rose Kwena, public relations manager at the Kenya Tourist Board office in Nairobi.

Kwena stressed the positive experiences had by the invited media, hoping that they would “go out and testify” against the unsafe image Kenya has acquired during the past four months.

Last month’s media itineraries took journalists across Kenya, including areas that have been considered dangerous, said Fred Okeyo, North American regional manager of the Kenya Tourist Board.

“The world has only received a portion of the story of Kenya since the election last year,” said Okeyo.

Following the announcement of the presidential election results on December 30, 2007, media outlets around the world reported outbreaks of violence in Kenya relating to the election’s disputed results.

“The crisis brought Kenya right into the living rooms of America,” said Kwena.

“People are scared to go [to Kenya] because of what happened, and understandably so,” said Peace Corps volunteer Katie Moore, 24.

Moore was stationed as a deaf education volunteer in Litein, a small town outside of Nairobi, when the violence began.

“The day after the results, I started hearing gun shots and people rioting,” said Moore. For a week, Moore went into hiding until she could be evacuated from the country via helicopter. Since the post-election conflict, the Peace Corps program in Kenya has been temporarily disbanded.

Despite the violence, Kenya Ambassador Peter N.R.O. Ogego insists that the country is “back on the path to peace.”

“We are well on our way to resolving our post-election controversies,” said Ogego.
Ogego stressed Kenya’s reliance on tourism, saying that the decline of tourists following the eruption of violence has hurt the country’s economy immeasurably.

Tourism, Kenya’s largest industry, was on a record-breaking high in late December, surpassing the million-arrivals mark for 2007. The largest challenge Kenyan tourism faced in December was trying to improve and grow its infrastructure without putting its renowned wildlife and culture at risk.

But since strife broke out for the first few weeks of 2008 over claims that the presidential election was rigged from both sides, tourism to Kenya has suffered a severe blow. During the four months following the post-election crisis, the number of tourists has declined 73 percent compared to 2007 figures, costing the country one billion dollars in revenue each month.

“When the economy went to a standstill, the entire country went on its knees,” said Kwena.

Following its April outreach to media outlets worldwide, the Kenya Tourist Board launched the second phase of its recovery campaign. Beginning mid-April, the Board initiated a series of U.S. press conferences, alerting the media and travel agencies to the nation’s effort to promote tourism while marketing Kenya as a major world destination.

“We need to educate everyone who is traveling in Africa,” said Maisa Fernandez, public relations manager of the Kenya Tourist Board. “It is our job. We’re not going to sleep until this is over and those numbers are up.”

At its press conference in New York on April 21, the Kenya Tourist Board reaffirmed its continuing efforts to bolster tourism. The Board announced that it would sponsor a Travel Agent Familiarization Tour, hosting U.S. and Canadian travel agents in Kenya throughout the summer months, the nation’s peak travel time.

“Word of mouth is huge for us,” said Fernandez, hoping that the press conferences would generate a “buzz across the country.”

The recovery plan will culminate in a massive consumer promotion campaign, including a North American fall road show and various partnerships with non-tourism industries in the United States.

“We are hoping to work with you to present this beautiful destination,” said Okeyo. “We are getting there, we are committed and we are on the move.”

Despite these efforts to improve Kenyan tourism, some travel agents invested in the industry, like Hema Shah, are skeptical of the Kenya Tourist Board’s approach. Shah works with United Travel Group, a travel agency that specializes in safaris.

“It’s definitely possible to bounce back from this, but they’re focusing too much on the wrong things,” said Shah. She wishes that the Kenya Tourist Board would address the travel advisory that the United States has placed on international travel to Kenya.

After a 2002 terrorist attack in Kenya, the U.S. Department of State has maintained a travel advisory for the country. In spite of the warning, tourist numbers have climbed since then.

“People got used to it,” said Shah.

In January, the United States placed a heightened travel warning on Kenyan travel in response to the post-election conflict. Although Department of State officials lightened the language of the warning after the political situation improved in March, the travel advisory still remains in effect.

“We can’t sort of shove it off and say its just another sort of advisory,” said Shah. “We need to address it and make it go away.”

Moore is also wary of the travel advisory.

“I’m hopeful that people will start going back soon, but I have my doubts,” said Moore.

But the advisory is little more than an “irritant” to Ambassador Ogego.

“We are back on our feet,” said Ogego.

Ogego and the Kenya Tourist Board plan to continue with the recovery campaign throughout the year, confident that it will bring tourists to Kenya.

“We need your support to get people to come back to Kenya,” said Kwena. “Forget Disney World. Kenya is the original home of the safari.”