Rhinos at a national park in Kenya. PHOTO | CSS

For over a decade, Joe Brown has been a regular holiday tourist in Kenya, enjoying the country’s Safari rides into the vast exotic wildlife and sunbathing at its breathtaking coastal beaches. He would often wind up at one of Nairobi’s upmarket exquisite hotels before heading back home.

The British tourist, who loves nature, said while planning for his travels, he usually arranges to come along with a dozen friends mostly from Europe and America, whom he interacted with during his many holidays in Kenya. But their routine was abruptly disrupted last year due to emergence of Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Brown was not only disappointed that he could not physically watch his favourite annual “The Great Wildebeest Migration” in the Masai Mara National Reserve, but also that an event he was eagerly looking forward to enjoy and had saved money for was hurriedly suspended to adhere to the pandemic’s new health travel protocols.

That special event – National Geographic’s (NaGeo) Kenya Private Jet Expedition, that has been billed to be a once in a lifetime execution for nature lovers, with price a tag of up to $12,995 (Sh1.4 million) per person, was deferred.

Its planned 11 executions, all suspended now, that were slated to begin on April 1, 2020 to run until January 10, 2022, was to board a maximum of 49 passengers flown in a chartered private jet to visit some of Kenya’s most exotic spots for eight days, at a fee ranging from $6,495 (Sh688,470) to $12,995 (Sh1.4 million), excluding internal flights $995 (Sh105,470), visa, and insurance $200,000 (Sh21.6 million).

The events’ suspension not only denied Mr Brown and his friends their joy of a lifetime but also by extension, the struggling local tourism sector the much needed revenue boost, whereby the project alone could have injected more than Sh740 million into the ailing sector.

It further shines light on how deep the pandemic has pushed the sector, a key contributor to the country’s economy, even as government and stakeholders mull efforts to revive the sector as restrictions continue to be slowly but steadily eased.

“With the wellbeing of our guests and team members as our top priority and in line with direction from health experts and government officials, National Geographic Expeditions has suspended most trip departures through the end of 2020,” NaGeo said in a statement in December.

Guided excursions

“The Covid-19 situation continues to evolve quickly and National Geographic Expeditions and its partners are closely monitoring global developments and following the advice of public health authorities, medical experts and officials in the destinations we visit.”

The private jet expeditions are NaGeo’s specially crafted itineraries designed for independent nature lovers with deep pockets that combine guided excursions, fascinating insights into culture and wildlife, and top accommodations, NaGeo says, as the firm shifts its premium expeditions to exploit Kenya’s rich tourism industry.

A sneak peak at the expeditions’ overview that was slated for Kenya, include experiencing National Geographic’s Unique Lodges of the World such as Ol Donyo Lodge in Kyulu Hills, Amboseli and Stave national parks, Masai Mara, and Olare Motoregi conservancy and expedition camp, horseback ride in the shadow of Mt Kilimanjaro, and with accommodation in Nairobi at Bomas Hotel.

The NaGeo, an American-founded firm based in New York and co-owned by Disney World, has various nature channels, available to about 86 million pay television households in the US alone. Save for Kenya, the NaGeo has successfully rolled out private expeditions in South Africa, Botswana, Egypt, Madagascar, and Morocco.

But not all is gloom and doom as NaGeo announced this month that it could resume its planned schedule. “As we work on a path to resuming operations…we are considering the guidance of public health officials and destination partners on the development of new health and safety measures and look forward to sharing more in the future. National Geographic Expeditions will be contacting all impacted guests and travel agents to discuss options,” NaGeo said in a recent statement posted on its official website.

Further, the firm advised that: “The health and safety of our guests and team Members remains a top priority for our team at National Geographic Expeditions as we continue to refine our protocols for our eventual return to service.”

Post recovery stimulus

Official data from Kenya National Bureau of Statistics indicates that Kenya’s tourism, a key foreign exchange earner for the country in 2019, earnings increased by four percent to hit Sh163 billion compared to Sh157.4 billion recorded in 2018.

In 2019, the volume of passenger travel handled at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) increased by 3.7 percent due to new routes, business related travel to Far East counties and reduced travel advisories.

Kenya’s tourism sector has been badly hit by coronavirus, with visitor numbers down by 72 percent between January and October last year.

“The sector hence lost over Sh110 billion of direct international tourists’ revenue due to the Covid-19 pandemic,“ Kenya’s tourism Research Institute reported recently.

The scourge has reduced the sector to empty beaches, safaris, and hotel beds as the virus saps life out of the Kenya’s tourism.

Of the Sh54 billion Treasury allocated to post-Covid-19 economic Stimulus Package in last year’s national budget allocation, Kenya Tourism Board was also allocated Sh1billion ($107 million) to cushion it from the aftermath of the virus.

In return, the State Department for Tourism targets to collect Sh3.8 billion into the Tourism fund in 2020/21.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani acknowledged that the tourism sector “is one of the worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic as a result of control measures taken by many governments worldwide to curb the spread of the virus”.

In Kenya, these measures include the cessation of international passenger travel, working from home directives, prohibition of public gatherings, nationwide curfews and the closure of bars and restaurants — except for takeaway services, that have all adversely affected business operations.

To navigate the curve, the Treasury boss further proposed plans to support the recovery of the tourism and hospitality sector with Sh3 billion to be channelled through the Tourism Finance Corporation towards renovation of facilities and restructuring of business operations, Sh2.5 billion for the Tourism Promotion Fund and Sh3.8 billion for the Tourism Fund.

Open skies

“The Covid-19 pandemic has cut off tourists, disrupting the sector across the world. Countries are now looking for ways to keep travellers engaged as they await the reopening of borders,” he said.

Recent Cytonn markets outlook research for the hospitality and tourism sector remains neutral despite the sector being the hardest hit by the pandemic.

“It has begun to gradually recover supported by financial aid from the government through the Post Corona Hospitality Sector Recovery Stimulus by the Ministry of Tourism through the Tourism Finance Corporation (TFC) and other international agencies, repackaging of the tourism sector to appeal to domestic tourists and relaxation of travel advisories. We expect this to fuel resumption of activities and resultant improved performance in the medium term.”

Further, infrastructure sector, an enabler of tourism and hospitality was also graded neutral outlook, despite the reduced budget allocation for the infrastructure sector with funds being redirected to dealing with the pandemic, however, the bright side is, the report says, “the government continues to implement select projects and we expect this to open up areas for developments upon their completion thus boosting the real estate sector.”

Naomi Campbell

To further bolster the sector, Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala recently appointed British international supermodel Naomi Campbell as Kenya’s Tourism Ambassador to market the country worldwide, mostly using her Hollywood influence and over 10 million followers on social media platforms.

After the government lifted a ban on international flights due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the country received 14,049 International arrivals in the month of August alone, the government announced.

Of those, Mr Balala said 13, 249 landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

The United States leads in the list of 30 countries with most passengers coming to the country followed by the United Kingdom while Uganda comes in a distant third position. The US had 2,768 passengers jetting in the country, UK 2,469, and Uganda 506.

Among who jetted into the country so far is American Pop star Madonna who has joined a growing list of US celebrities including R&B singer Ashanti who have visited the country amid Covid-19 travel warnings by their country.

Madonna travelled to Samburu and Baringo counties where she spent time with members of the Samburu and Pokot communities.

Further, President Uhuru Kenyatta continues to encourage tourists to return to Kenya, saying the country was safe and open for business.

President Kenyatta said the country was ready to receive domestic and foreign visitors, and that he was satisfied with measures taken by the tourism sector to protect travellers from Covid-19.

“I want to take this opportunity to encourage every single Kenyan to take advantage and to travel… You can travel, you can move,’ he said.

“And now as you know, we have also opened up our skies and flights are coming. We welcome all those who choose to come.”