Transport

Kenya woos top US luxury cruise line to buoy tourism

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PHOTO | BD GRAPHIC

Kenya is wooing Princess Cruises, a California-based operator of luxury cruise ships, to make Mombasa a home port for its vessels in a move that could boost arrival of holidaymakers from the United States.

Tourism secretary Najib Balala said he held meetings with the executives of Princess Cruises in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, last month to discuss the move which would see Kenya become the second major destination for the cruise ships in Africa after Egypt.

A home port status would imply that for every voyage, the Princess cruise vessels will call at the Kenyan Coast not only to offload and pick majority of their passengers but also to restock supplies and fuel.

Together with direct flight that the US has already cleared Kenya for, an association with the luxury shipping line is expected to boost tourist arrivals into the country.

Mr Balala held talks with the cruise owners alongside Kenya Tourism Board chief executive officer Betty Radier and officials from the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) who accompanied him to Florida to attend the Seatrade Cruise Global convention.

Princess Cruises was represented at the discussion by its development planning director Crystal Morgan. As a follow up, the tourism ministry is expected to share the designs of KPA’s Sh350 cruise terminal, which is under construction, with Princess Cruise Line for security and commercial review.

During the meeting, the Princess Cruises is also said to have agreed to share with Kenya its preconditions for making Mombasa a home port.

If successful, the cruise line which is incorporated in the Bermuda Island, a British overseas territory, will assign Mombasa a home port status by 2019.

As part of the marketing build up, Princess Cruises is said to have offered to sponsor a forum bringing together members of the Cruise Indian Ocean Association (CIOA) to discuss cruise tourism in the region.

US is the second single largest source of holidaymakers to Kenya with Economic Survey 2017 indicating that the numbers grew to 118,300 last year, second only to UK’s 129,600 visitors. A significant number of holiday makers arrive via cruise lines.

Mr Balala attributed the cruise tourism improvement to the decline in pirate attacks off Somalia coast while security in Mombasa had significantly improved after the government addressed security concerns which had been raised by western countries.

“Mombasa is a preferred destination for cruise holidaymakers since when they arrive at the port it takes them a short time to head to national parks for game drives,” he said.

Cruise tourism, he added, was a lucrative market for Kenya, saying the visitors arriving by sea were high-end holidaymakers. He said cruise tourists had boosted the industry and the economy, since they visit national parks such as the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Tsavo East and West National Parks, Amboseli National Park and Shimba Hills Game Reserve and excursions in Mombasa town.

“Although the tourists who arrive by sea spend short time in the country, majority of them later come for longer holidays thereby boosting the economy,” he said.

During this cruise tourism season which began in November last year and ended last month, at least 2,958 tourists arrived in the country by sea.

That is still lower compared to the 1980s and 1990s when the port of Mombasa used to receive between 40 and 60 cruise ships per year which would bring between 20,000 and 50,000 holidaymakers who used to arrive by cruise ships.

The number of visitors arriving in Mombasa by cruise ships declined from 11,000 in 2009 to just 500 in 2010 due to negative effects of pirate attacks off Somalia coast.

The deployment of Kenya Defence Forces soldiers to Somalia years ago and patrols by the local and international community naval forces led to the decline in piracy in 2013.