Tourism in Kenya is a source of foreign exchange and income for the government. This helps reduce dependence on other sectors such as agriculture, which are subject to weather and market conditions that can often be unpredictable. But as much good as this income does, there is a downside. It is common for local governments to prioritize projects that could potentially help increase tourism income over projects that work towards the general well-being of local residents.
In this way, locals may miss out on important amenities such as healthcare, schooling, clean water or irrigation , as they are sidelined in favor of services to help increase tourist traffic. For example, in an area where there are only enough funds to either refurbish a local health center or upgrade a road that leads to an area with a cluster of popular tourist hotels, local officials are likely to fix the road.
Tourists are likely to frequent chain hotels, which are usually owned by foreign companies and divert very little of their income towards the Kenyan economy. Local artisans and business owners miss out on the bulk of tourist revenue, gaining some limited income from curio purchases for example, but mostly serving local residents who cannot afford the rates at tourist-oriented restaurants, clothing shops, hotels and so forth.
Tourism — more so international tourism — provides an opportunity for good relations between countries. Key government interactions lead to business opportunities and development partnerships that are beneficial for both countries involved, especially the less financially able 3 rd world countries. Maintaining good international ties fosters a kinship that allows Kenya to develop in ways that would otherwise have been difficult to access.
Cultural exchange between Kenyan citizens and tourists also helps paint a positive picture of the country overseas, fighting the stereotypical starving African child image commonly associated with our continent, as well as broadening Kenyan horizons by introducing them to cultures outside our own. This interaction of cultures can go awry, however, as the more conservative Kenyan cultures meet more liberal foreign cultures. The more permissive Western approach to clothing, partying and sex could possibly offend a deeply traditional Kenyan.
In other words they change the usual environment momentarily without much change in the activities: shopping, alcohol, roasted meat, and clubbing. While an international tourist may feel safe and secure within the tourist ghettos and enclaves, his Kenyan counterpart will find such an environment to be boring, encouraging them to venture out to find freedom and mingle with other Kenyans in night clubs, shopping malls, restaurants, pubs, and other entertainment spots.
Being cost conscious, little or no money is spent on other services deemed unnecessary apart from key services e. However, more is spent on food and beverages than on excursions suggesting that such a client actually arrives lacking the motivation to explore the destination extensively. Instead, the domestic client makes shorter stays and usually visits a particular place for a particular reason.
A case in point is the domestic conference tourist who stayed on average of 0. For instance a study done in Mtwapa area, North Coast, established that non-classified hotels in Mtwapa town received most of their guests This could be attributed to the fact that the hotels are of lower standards, and are price friendly to the domestic market.
Thus, Pierret noted that the domestic traveller seeks the best price-quality ratio, or often the lowest possible price, in all segments of the tourism value chain: accommodation, food services, tourism activities, shopping, etc.
This means that the domestic traveller is likely to use local services and products: home stays, local guesthouses, lodgings, local foods, and local photographers, with the exception of buying souvenirs. This may be one way of diffusing tourism activity among local entrepreneurs albeit to a smaller level.
Thus, the international tourist has compelled the investor to offer what they want infrastructure, food, language, marketing messages…. Being an invisible client due to their travel behaviour such as the use of own transport, the domestic traveller remains an overlooked client having distinct attributes as shown below table 6.
It is about going somewhere away from home. Pierret rightfully observed that domestic tourism is practiced more in a sedentary staying in the same place than a nomadic manner. Once one has explored their own backyard extensively, then they are able to move elsewhere in search of new experiences.
With this, it is therefore possible to extend the tourism offer beyond the traditional tourism destinations since they have a greater tolerance for basic services. This is not to say that quality is not a factor for the domestic clients but it shows that with a minimum service requirement, it may be easier to satisfy and handle the domestic tourist. For instance, in areas such as the beaches, day time domestic tourists are not so distracted by lack of essential amenities like toilets, shower tabs, and appropriate changing rooms among other services.
They may not really see anything wrong with recreating alongside litter. Along the sea front, African populations mostly congregate above the high water mark clearly shunning the beach sun and sand while a few will be in the water sea. Many adult Kenyans frequent these places preferring to be inactive rather than participate in recreational activities such as water sports, which confirm our assertion that they have not yet embraced the tourism culture.
They prefer to shelter themselves away from the hot sun while gazing into the horizon. Those of Arabic and Asian decent often travel with their own vehicles to the beach e. Nyali and Mama Ngina in groups of three or four but hardly leave the vehicles and may be spotted listening to music, eating their own packed food, while some spend their time chewing miraa. One notable absence on the beach for the Kenyan population is the lack of sunbathing activity.
Few people, especially adult women, can be spotted wearing beach attire as the majority prefer to be fully dressed. Moreover, while it may be easier to identify a foreign tourist: by skin colour, clothing, carrying of brochures, maps and cameras, walking in groups, and having a tour guide by their side, the same may not be easily said of a local tourist who blends into the environment; the domestic tourist does not easily stand out from the crowd.
Many local tourists also visit the same places frequented by foreign tourists — terrestrial and marine parks etc. Sindiga , p. This has greatly contributed to crowding in touristic destinations and constrained the tourism offer. Therefore, the question to ask is: who actually is setting the pace for tourism practices in the country — domestic or international tourist? Indeed, traditionally travel intermediaries have played a pivotal role in destination management.
But with domestic tourists travelling independently, it is possible that they can introduce and sustain new tourism practices in the country, albeit to a lesser level. What is evident, however, is that it tends to trail the international tourism trends and practices.
Still, just like international tourism, there is also minimal frequentation to museums and other cultural sites by Kenyan adults as evidenced in table 7. Greater geographical dispersion of tourists can be aided by the impact of car ownership, allowing people beyond the parameters of fixed modes of transport.
Most Kenyan parks are remotely located requiring one to have a self driven vehicle or to rely on a tour van to access them. In Kenya, this may still be a challenge. For instance in , the number of motor cars personal vehicles in Kenya is estimated to be , with approximately 40, new vehicles being added to the roads yearly Government of Kenya, This may not be a substantial number to warrant mass domestic tourism in the country. According to World Bank, there were 14 passenger cars in Kenya per people compared to in France in This includes road motor vehicles, other than two-wheelers, intended for the carriage of passengers and designed to seat no more than nine people including the driver World Bank, Some Tour operators sampled for this research indicated that they do not target domestic tourists at all so could not participate in the study.
In addition, many of the domestic tourism safaris advertised beginning and ending their journey in Nairobi Kieti et al. The KWS has also encouraged domestic travel through the provision of a bus and guided visits to the Nairobi and Lake Nakuru National Parks every weekend including public holidays to encourage Kenyans to take part in tourism.
The direct economic impact generated by domestic tourism is indeed insignificant in terms of the conservation fee. This is not to diminish the significance of domestic tourism, but to illustrate the importance of international tourism in financially supporting protected areas of the country.
Despite these facts, Akama and World Tourism Organization observed that domestic tourism may have a greater impact on local economies and local development whereby they are more likely to buy from local vendors than foreign tourists. Future research should be done on the contribution of domestic tourism to the accommodation sector.
Pierret noted that knowledge and proximity of the destination, and lower cost of transport for domestic tourists, brings about an entirely new series of consequences. This includes but is not limited to involvement of all social strata, from the wealthiest to more modest but stable incomes; giving rise to a large diversity in demand in terms of accommodation and tourism products as well as activities and destinations.
However, the unit expenditure is markedly lower than in international tourism, especially interregional tourism, but the overall volume of expenditure remains higher. Through this the KWS has shown that indeed attractions are not just over there but they are here as well — in our backyards. The various tourism practices and experiences are explicitly announced through various taglines proposed for the national parks Kihima, This inexperienced tourist may still be a stranger to various landscapes, flora, and fauna, and may easily find them fascinating.
Indeed, domestic tourism can serve to launch a destination Pierret, This may form a good starting point to popularize the undeveloped sites. For the international traveller, the images of safari , big five , savanna , and Maasai are still persistent Kihima, Europeans, according to Wels , p.
Boniface , p. After suffering a downturn and falling out of tune with tourism market, they can reemerge as suitable with their original features… In essence, dynamic tourism expects a future that calls for constant re-evaluation with attention paid to keeping existing items in the arena as tourism products.
This has hindered the gaining of important insights into the domestic market. Many other sectors of the economy have invested much in research while the Kenyan tourism industry is largely concentrated on regulating and licensing the industry players. Two years after the devolution of the local tourism function to the county governments, the script is still the same: lack of data on domestic tourism within the counties, and therefore no clear road map with regard to the development of domestic tourism.
This, according to Boniface , p. Kenya is a country in East Africa that has successfully developed a tourism industry over the past 40 years. Tourists visit Kenya for many reasons, including to go on safari and to visit its spectacular coastline around Mombasa.
Wildlife viewing of animals such as lions, elephants and giraffes is the major tourist attraction in Kenya. As can be seen on the graph, Kenya attracted nearly 1.
Kenya faces numerous problems as a country, it suffers from periodic failure of the rains such as during the Horn of Africa famine and terrorist attacks from the Al-Shabaab group linked to Al Qaeda. All of these positive economic features have allowed Kenya to develop as a country — tourism directly supports the development of Kenya as a country and allows the government to reinvest money into improving the quality of life for its people.
However there are positives and negatives of the tourism.
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