Technology

Ex-chef earns good returns from online tourism guide

chef

Mr Eliud Ndung’u, Safiri Nasi founder. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA

Eliud Ndung’u was constantly being bombarded with calls from friends seeking affordable accommodation in Mombasa where he was working .

The question for the then chef at Kaskazi Beach was where to get cheaper holidays with others requesting him to plan their holidays.

“My friends referred their friends to me and I started making handsome returns from my ‘side-hustIe’” he says.

This grew into a business for the Kenyatta University graduate. “Advance bookings paid via a cashless platform brought in hefty discounts that enabled more Kenyans to travel and I decided to quit my job to concentrate on building a tourism destinations’ online platform for Kenyan holiday makers,” he recalls.

He launched a domestic travel online guide aimed at satiating Kenyans’ zeal to travel into pristine hinterland long considered remote and unfriendly.

According to Mr Ndung’u, the online site offers new information about domestic tourism and its related costs demystifying long held beliefs that leisure travel is costly.

The website, safirinasi.co.ke provides costs for every package with hefty discounts offered for every customer paying in advance.

“Western Kenya remains the richest and the best tourism product, unmarketed and pristine. Kenyans must get out of the cities and travel across Kenya to view features, historical sites as well as wildlife. Talk of the Cheploch Gorge on the border of Baringo and Elgeyo-Marakwet where boys defy death by jumping in much to the excitement of tourists,” he says.

Mr Ndung’u says repeat clients often demand new products in new towns. He therefore travels wide to sample products, seek contacts and clinch contracts that enable him to engage his clients.