KENYA: Kenya's coastal resort areas quieter but tourism already affected by political unrest

Record ID: 361895

  • Title: KENYA: Kenya's coastal resort areas quieter but tourism already affected by political unrest
  • Date: 2nd January 2008
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English)VICTOR SHITAKA, GENERAL MANAGER OF SUNRISE RESORT, SPEAKING IN FRONT OF SUNRISE RESORT BUILDING, SAYING: "Unless it picks up quickly and the insecurity is completely stopped, I am looking, I am thinking, that it will not get better. People will not come here"
  • Embargoed: 17th January 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Domestic Politics,Travel / Tourism
  • Reuters ID: LVA4597VC7LOUGFYVKCHA9AHKOXS
  • Story Text: Kenya's tourism sector is likely to be badly damaged by post-election violence and ongoing instability.
    Kenya's coastal tourists resort area was quieter on Wednesday (January 2), following days of violence after an election gone awry, but tourists said they were leaving the country and resort operators said they feared the worst if the crisis was not resolved quickly.
    The election result triggered a wave of tribal clashes in one of Africa's most stable democracies that shocked the world. Over 300 people are now reported dead.
    There were few champagne corks popping during what had been expected to be one of Kenya's best New Year tourism seasons ever.

    "Unless it picks up quickly and the insecurity is completely stopped, I am looking, I am thinking that it will not get better. People will not come here," said resort operator, Victor Shitaka, general manager of the Sunrise Resort.
    Holidaymakers were held back after their flights landed at Mombasa's Moi International Airport while police arranged armed convoys to escort buses to hotels -- most of them safely removed from Kenya's second city and the unrest there.
    Officers carrying assault rifles climbed into the backs of tourists' cars and taxis to accompany them to safety.
    Gunshots could be heard early this week as smoke billowed over the port. The tourism sector contributes some 800 million US dollars a year to the economy -- Kenya's top foreign exchange earner.
    A lot was at stake, said the Kenya Tourism Federation.
    Visitors who drove down to the coast found themselves in more difficulties as fuel and supplies ran out at most petrol stations.
    Expatriates visiting the coast from upcountry said they were planning journeys home to avoid the major towns. Instead, they said they would take routes through Kenya's game parks -- normally thronged with tourists drawn by their rich wildlife.
    Swedish tourist Asa Kock, a judge at home in Sweden, arrived in Kenya just before Christmas and visited the famouse Masaai Mara reserve. She and a partner tried to leave Mombasa only to find that their destination - the north coast resort town of Malindi - had run short of fuel. So they were leaving to neighbouring Tanzania. Asked if she had been aware of what had been happening, she said she had kept herself up to date.

    "Actually I do because I've been read in the newspapers and watching the internet and so on, so we are a bit worried. And tomorrow we are leaving to Tanzania," she said.
    Kock vowed to return when the country was quieter.
    Fuel shortages also hit the Rift Valley town of Naivasha, where minibuses that usually ferry camera-clicking tourists on safaris round its picturesque lake sat idle.
    Petrol tanker owners feared their vehicles would be caught up in the violence and for now were keeping them locked away.
    Meanwhile, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on Wednesday invited all members of the new opposition-dominated parliament to a meeting at State House in Nairobi, in an apparent attempt to soothe post-election tempers.
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