Each county government should identify two monuments to be promoted in the quest to spread the benefits of tourism across the country.
A majority of foreign visitors going to coastal counties such as Mombasa are holidaymakers looking to enjoy the warm weather in the palm-fringed sandy beaches.
Hoteliers reckon that using monuments to market tour sites will help spread the tourist dollars across many counties.
Kenya’s 47 counties have been asked to identify monuments that can be marketed abroad to attract tourists to all parts of the country.
Arts and Culture Principal Secretary Joe Okudo, said each county government should identify two monuments to be promoted in the quest to spread the benefits of tourism across the country.
He said Turkana, marketed as the cradle of mankind, has been attracting both local and international tourists as well as researchers and students.
“Monuments and culture attract large number of tourists from across the globe. Therefore, it’s important for the counties to capitalise on heritage to uplift tourism countrywide,” he said in Mombasa yesterday.
“Although the country has lots of monuments, only a few have been exposed to international source markets. We want to market all museums so that the local communities can derive income,” he added.
This comes as Kenya sees rebound of the tourism sector that has been losing cash over the past six years.
A majority of foreign visitors going to coastal counties such as Mombasa are holidaymakers looking to enjoy the warm weather in the palm-fringed sandy beaches and game reserves like Masai Mara, Tsavo and Amboseli.
Hoteliers reckon that using monuments to market tour sites will help spread the tourist dollars across many counties.
“The showcasing of the monuments and cultural identities will allow for tourism and trade between counties as well as further exposure of the counties to international tourism market,” says Bobby Kamani, the managing director of Diani Reef Beach Resort.
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The hotels have an occupancy of between 70 and 75 per cent in the period since January, up from about 50 per cent in the same period last year and about 30 per cent in 2015.
The growth is welcome news to hoteliers who had been forced to cut jobs, slash pay and close shop following the crippling effects of several travel alerts issued in 2014 after a spate of terrorist attacks on holiday getaway towns.
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