Economy
20 Coast hotels shut down due to low tourist numbers
Tuesday April 22 2014More than 20 hotels at the Coast have closed down and shed at least 3, 000 jobs after terrorist attacks by Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militants pushed bed occupancy levels to a record low.
The Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers (KAHC) says half (or 13) of the top-end hotels operating in Malindi and Watamu have closed shop during the low season.
The association adds that at least six hotels in Kwale and some in Lamu have sent workers on leave till the end of the low season at the end of July.
About 2, 500 jobs have been lost in Kilifi County, which relies mainly on Italian tourists, and auxiliary sectors like handicraft makers, taxi drivers, fishermen and farmers are too feeling the hit.
The low season normally starts in May to July, but the hoteliers say it started early this year and they are uncertain when the high season will kick in.
“From last month to date, we have seen 50 per cent of hotels in Kilifi County close down due to tourist drought,” said Philip Chai, the chairman of Kilifi’s KAHC branch.
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“We expect the hotels to re-open from mid-July to July 26 depending on when the Italian chartered airlines will resume flights.” The chartered airlines withdrew flights due to low passenger numbers.
Most hotels at the Coast have since March been operating at 40 per cent occupancy save for the Easter season when it rose to nearly 90 per cent.
This has seen the hotels cut jobs and place workers on unpaid leave to reduce costs and cushion their margins. The hotels say they need bed occupancy of between 60 and 70 per cent to break even.
“We had a busy Easter due to higher number of domestic tourists from Nairobi and other parts of the East African region,” said Adam Sheikh, the Kwale County tourism executive.
Tourist arrivals in Kenya in the first five months of 2013 were down 15 per cent from the previous year.