Posted by Travel Weekly
By
Johanna Jainchill
Lucy Karume is
the chairwoman of the Kenya Tourism Federation and, due to the recent downturn
in visitors, she now also chairs its Tourism Recovery Task Force. Destinations
Editor Johanna Jainchill talked with Karume in New York last week about keeping
tourists going to a country faced with the twofold challenge of terrorism and
Ebola virus concerns.
Q: It's the one-year anniversary of the Westgate Mall attacks, and now there is the Ebola crisis. How much has tourism dropped in Kenya over the last year?
A: Different regions have reacted differently. [The coastal city of] Mombasa accounts for a big number of tourism, and it has been huge, a 40% to 50% drop. ... There were strong travel advisories from Britain, America, Australia, France -- our main markets. Mombasa is controlled by charters, not regular flights. Once a charter pulls away, that pulls 250 to 300 passengers per flight. We usually get about 60 charters per week, and we are down to about three to five per week. Quite a number of people are now out of jobs; about 30,000.
The safari circuit is holding on. It's not 100%, but it's held at 75% to 80% of normal. People are OK flying into Nairobi and going on safari.
The good news is the country is stable, the security is stable and we have no Ebola in Kenya, not even one incident. Now we are trying to manage the perception of people who don't know the country well.
Q: What impact has the Ebola outbreak had on tourism?
A: We haven't been so hard hit, because we immediately sent messages saying there is no Ebola in Kenya and showing the distance between where Ebola is and where we are. It's as far from Rio de Janeiro to West Africa as it is from West Africa to Kenya. We had some calls from tour operators looking for reassurance but no cancellations in the safari market. [People recognize] that Ebola is far from Kenya, and they are putting it into perspective, and that's part of the work we keep doing. The Kenya Tourism Board is sending out information, saying, "This is where Ebola happened, this is where we are." We have a map showing them.
Q: What is Kenya doing to prevent Ebola from entering the country?
A: Kenya Airlines suspended all flights to African countries that have reported outbreaks. Anybody who comes into our airport or [crosses our] borders has a full screening. It's very fast, based on [body] temperature. If it's high, you go into containment where doctors come in in full gear and monitor you and take blood samples. As chair of the task force, I thought it was good to go to the airport and go through the whole thing, and I did the screening.
Q: What have you done to ensure the safety of tourists after the Westgate attacks?
A: In the last year, we've had quite a number of challenges with terrorism. The Kenyan army is part of a larger army in Somalia sorting out the al-Shabab. What we hear is they have contained and neutralized them quite a lot. The presence of security and police in Kenya has been heightened. There is screening of anybody going into public buildings and malls with private-sector security. The Tourist Police Unit has been beefed up; last year it was 300, it's going up to 600 this year and eventually will be 1,000 in a year or so. They are trained for the tourists; to protect them, give customer service, monitor and help them. Their presence is very important.
Follow Johanna Jainchill on Twitter @jjainchilltw.
Q: It's the one-year anniversary of the Westgate Mall attacks, and now there is the Ebola crisis. How much has tourism dropped in Kenya over the last year?
A: Different regions have reacted differently. [The coastal city of] Mombasa accounts for a big number of tourism, and it has been huge, a 40% to 50% drop. ... There were strong travel advisories from Britain, America, Australia, France -- our main markets. Mombasa is controlled by charters, not regular flights. Once a charter pulls away, that pulls 250 to 300 passengers per flight. We usually get about 60 charters per week, and we are down to about three to five per week. Quite a number of people are now out of jobs; about 30,000.
The safari circuit is holding on. It's not 100%, but it's held at 75% to 80% of normal. People are OK flying into Nairobi and going on safari.
The good news is the country is stable, the security is stable and we have no Ebola in Kenya, not even one incident. Now we are trying to manage the perception of people who don't know the country well.
Q: What impact has the Ebola outbreak had on tourism?
A: We haven't been so hard hit, because we immediately sent messages saying there is no Ebola in Kenya and showing the distance between where Ebola is and where we are. It's as far from Rio de Janeiro to West Africa as it is from West Africa to Kenya. We had some calls from tour operators looking for reassurance but no cancellations in the safari market. [People recognize] that Ebola is far from Kenya, and they are putting it into perspective, and that's part of the work we keep doing. The Kenya Tourism Board is sending out information, saying, "This is where Ebola happened, this is where we are." We have a map showing them.
Q: What is Kenya doing to prevent Ebola from entering the country?
A: Kenya Airlines suspended all flights to African countries that have reported outbreaks. Anybody who comes into our airport or [crosses our] borders has a full screening. It's very fast, based on [body] temperature. If it's high, you go into containment where doctors come in in full gear and monitor you and take blood samples. As chair of the task force, I thought it was good to go to the airport and go through the whole thing, and I did the screening.
Q: What have you done to ensure the safety of tourists after the Westgate attacks?
A: In the last year, we've had quite a number of challenges with terrorism. The Kenyan army is part of a larger army in Somalia sorting out the al-Shabab. What we hear is they have contained and neutralized them quite a lot. The presence of security and police in Kenya has been heightened. There is screening of anybody going into public buildings and malls with private-sector security. The Tourist Police Unit has been beefed up; last year it was 300, it's going up to 600 this year and eventually will be 1,000 in a year or so. They are trained for the tourists; to protect them, give customer service, monitor and help them. Their presence is very important.
Follow Johanna Jainchill on Twitter @jjainchilltw.
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