Devolution opens Western counties for tourism, trade

The Fifth Annual Devolution Conference opened on Monday in Kakamega county -- once again bringing the 47 heads of the devolved units and relevant agencies to Western Kenya. 

This is not just good news for Kakamega only but for all the Western Kenya counties, partly because of the vast hospitality business opportunities that come with it as well as the multiple trading moments it offers local business people.

At the start of devolution, most counties experienced “teething problems” which greatly impacted negatively on service delivery to the citizenry.

There were public complaints on county officers and their inability to run the counties. The wars between some governors and members of the county assembly slowed many activities.

It is however a fact that most new things have a kick-off slow time. Over time, there have been huge benefits and successes of devolution and in particular in the field of hospitality.

Devolution has opened up most areas of our country. I came to Kisumu in 2015 to run the then new four-star Acacia Premier set up by Simba Corporation in the lake city.

I have seen Kisumu and the western region grow in terms of hospitality with new modern hotels coming up in the counties in the last two to three years.

My hotel is already fully booked and so are the many other hotels in Kisumu and larger Western region for the conference.

Kisumu has been a host to major local and East Africa Annual conferences. The city hotels have also hosted world known celebrities among them Kenyan born and Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o and world fashion designer Victoria Beckham. This is true evidence that the western region is ripe for both conferencing and leisure tourism.

The ongoing construction of the Sh15 billion Kenya Breweries plant in Kisumu is just among new ventures that are putting the county on the map. There is also the new Kenya oil jetty that will make the lake side city an oil and petroleum hub in East Africa.

Such and more of these opportunities are opening the western region for trade and tourism and therefore there is a need for the facilities to meet the demand.

READ: Western Kenya airstrips stir up business

It is worth noting that during the governors’ conference, delegates from Mombasa and the coast counties can fly direct to Kisumu via Silverstone Air.

I personally think the Western region is ripe for a huge and unique Lake Victoria View Convention Centre! This will place the region at a competitive position with other regions in the larger East Africa.

There is also a lot of under-utilised potential in or on the shores of the biggest fresh water lake in Africa.

The convention needs to be matched with state-of-the-art modern hotels. Modern facilities like Acacia Premier have raised the bar in the region offering wonderful accommodation, conferencing and leisure experiences.

Counties and stakeholders are working to see to it that the regions can sustain themselves as well open up for local tourism.

We are beginning to see a start in this process where counties are stepping up to the plate and promoting their own areas. We see some efforts in our government promoting local tourism.

There is a definite opportunity here to push this with more aggressive campaigns, coupled with support to develop specific areas that can be enhanced with improved roads, incentives for private business to invest in hotels and for the counties and national government to get together to improve infrastructure, water, electricity, security and reduce the red tape to facilitate development.

Facilities like this bring a lot of benefits to the counties and local residents in terms of job creation, extra tourism income and the multiplier effect of providing business to all other economic sectors from supply chain to transportation.

One can now go to this lake side city and have a great vacation instead of having to trek all the way to Mombasa.

The multiplier effect of local tourism to the community at large is huge. I am of the opinion that with a steadily growing middle class and the ability to market not only to the local Kenyan but to the rest of the region, this sector can grow and if done right, has the potential to equal the international tourism income.

I must emphasize though that this can only happen if the county governments, the national government and the private sector all work hand in hand to promote the growth across our beautiful nation.

I would like to see those travelling to Kakamega for the devolution conference take some time after the event and see what the Western circuit and Kisumu has to offer — the crying stones of Kakamega, a sun downer at Dunga Hill Camp Kisumu, the Hippo Point, a scenic view of Lake Victoria from the Kit Mikayi rocks and you may sample some good rhumba nite life in Kisumu.

Duncan Mwangi, General Manager, Acacia Premier Hotel