environment for a period ... whose
main purpose of visit is other than the
exercise of an activity remunerated
from within the place visited’.
From a Kenyan perspective, the
emphasis of ‘any person’ permanently
makes irrelevant and outdated ‘hoteli
ya wazungu’ notion – though recent
cases in parts of the coast needs to be
addressed for those still holding archaic
perspective on who should patronize
their hotels and restaurants.
This is definitely a definition which has
been shaped by the industry realities,
depressing seasonality trends and
dynamics that have forced destination
marketers to diversify and look at
various market segments and niche
markets to stabilize industry earnings
– more so when the hitherto foreign
exchange earner can be barred, any
time, from travelling to Kenya (mostly
due to some blanket travel advisory)
just when the industry gets optimistic
of good prospects and bookings.
In my perspective, the definition seems
to introduce some other benefits a
country stands to gain from domestic
tourism, when her citizens visit various
parts of the country. Such non-revenue
benefits include citizens developing
a stronger socio-cultural resilience,
tolerance and understanding in the face
of tribal diversity.
Such benefits are priceless and go
beyond the mandate of the destination
marketing bodies. Consequently
the question of why more resources
shouldn’t be allocated to fund (or
subsidize) funding for such marketing
initiatives becomes an interesting topic
for the decision makers.
Before I digress further, let us discuss
more specific developments in Kenya
which have led to the creation of a
ripe market for destination marketers
at County and National levels to up
their game in marketing of domestic
tourism.
I should say these dynamics changing
the competitive landscape are God
sent, as explained in the previous article
on Kiosk mentality and approach to
County marketing, where I dwelt,
at great length, on why each county
should position themselves in their
own unique value proposition. This
scenario has ended up eliminating
some of the factors these Counties
would have cited as weaknesses in as far
as their SWOT analysis for destination
access is concerned.
Factors informing this line of thought
Developments in transport
infrastructure has opened new frontier
and shortened travel time consequently
opening new possibilities in domestic
tourism in Kenya.
Still on infrastructure, over the years
many airports and airstrips have been
upgraded to welcome a variety of
carriers and airlines in the domestic
routes. Unlike in the olden days,
arranging for a weekend gate-away,
to say Lamu, is much more possible
and easier than before for a potential
domestic traveler.
Things are getting even better for local
tourist with opening up of Kenyan
skies for low cost carries. For Ksh.
8,000/= many Kenyans can afford a
return air ticket to a destination like
Kisumu in the morning, engage is
mouthwatering gastronomic tourism,
eating proper fish (Not Chinese
import) at the shores of Lake Victoria
and make it back to Nairobi in the
afternoon. This would have otherwise
been a 16 hour round trip in the
yesteryears – not to mention that
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