Kenya - interview

Salvaging tourism after the violence

by David Coffey

Article published on the 2008-07-04 Latest update 2008-07-04 13:47 TU

Najib Balala
(Photo: najibbalala.net)

Kenya’s tourism industry was dealt a heavy blow by the violence that swept the country after the December 2007 elections. The Ministry of Tourism has kicked into high gear to try to put the country’s greatest resource back on track. Tourism Minister Najib Balala was in Paris on 2 July to launch a marketing offensive, Magical Kenya. It aims to rival the high-spending advertising campaign which South Africa’s safari industry has run for the past decade.

“In 2007, we had 1.8 million tourists. It’s a record for Kenya,” said Balala. “Then eventually after the problems, we went down to almost nothing.”

Until December, Kenya was known as the world's leading destination for those seeking a safari adventure: the romance of the film Out of Africa, the wilderness of lake Turkana and the wildlife of the Maasai Mara. The industry made up 12 per cent of the country’s GDP, employing ten per cent of the population.

This ended abruptly in the wave of violence that swept the country after the disputed elections on 27 December 2007. Reports of massacres broadcast across the globe changed Kenya’s image from safari heaven to tribal hell.

Now, as things have calmed down, Kenya is increasing its self-promotion, investing 8.1 million euros in marketing tourism, topped up by another 7.3 million euros from France and the European Union, who previously provided four million euros.

“We decided as a government to invest a lot of money in marketing and positioning Kenya and branding Kenya,” explained Balala.

Kenya has always competed against its neighbours to attract tourists, especially since December, as people looked elsewhere for their safaris. Balala would like to see the entire region working together to promote itself.

“Among ourselves we can together join hands and market the region and have value for money to our clients,” he said, adding that having one visa for one region could mean "opening the gate from the Maasai Mara to the Serengeti so it’s easier and economically viable, so we both benefit".

Balala says the new coalition government has “teething problems”. But he hopes it will usher in a new era of co-operation within Kenya and with its regional neighbours.

He says he plans to meet with his counterparts in Tanzania and Uganda later in July.