Mombassa Malindi Beach Hotels Resorts Overbooking Situation



Posted: Friday, October 02, 2009

by Edwin Muriithi
African Safaris & Adventures

Restaurants, beach Hotels and family resorts in Mombassa and Malindi at the  Kenyan coast were bursting at the seams with guests during the weekend,  bolstered by the agricultural show, school holidays and national music  festival. The Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers Coast  branch chairman, Titus said some hotels in Mombassa were overbooked and had to  refer their clients to other resorts and lodges. Mr Kangangi, the Mombassa  Sunrise Resort Hotel general manager, said most of the guests in the hotels  were Kenya locals from Nairobi and other parts of the country, who were in the  region owing to school holidays, the Mombasa  international show and the music festival.

"Most of the hotels in Mombassa are packed with guests in the wake of the  agricultural show slated for Wednesday and the ongoing national music festival.  Other Kenyans are here to relax with their children over the school vacations,"  said the hotelier. Government officials, company executives and show exhibitors  are part of our guests, while other hotels have a good number of foreign tourists,"  he added. Sun N' Sand Beach Hotel Resort general manager, Andimilleh Makumbi,  said the beach hotel was full owing to local tourists as a result of the show  and school holiday.

He said bed occupancies have been boosted unlike in  previous months when the establishments had few guests. "The luxury beach hotel  is full at the moment as a result of the show, Europe America clients," added  Mr Makumbi. Conferences and the ongoing school vacations. Temple Point Club  general manager Mr. Rodrot said the Temple Point Club hotel was packed with  most guests being locals from Nairobi  and upcountry towns. Mr Rodrot called on the Kenya Tourist Board to market  domestic tourism instead of relying so much on foreign tourist markets. "Most  of the hotels at the coast are full because of a big number of local tourists.  The holiday vacation industry could do even better if KTB markets domestic  tourism as there are many Kenyans out there who can afford to go on holidays in  Mombassa ," Mr Rodrot said.

Mean While - Kenya's  tourism minister Mr. Balala said that potential investors need more incentives  to spur growth in the Tourism industry. Although tax relief already exist,  holidays and vacations investors interested in building budget and luxury  hotels accommodations in Kenya should also be given free land. "Kenya needs to  look beyond that (tax incentives) now," said Mr Balala adding that allocating  land could spur global hotel chains into setting up new resorts in Kenya. He  spoke in Nairobi Safari Club while handing over a Sh10 million cheque to the  Kenya Tourism Federation (KTF). He said the private sector in Kenya was "weaker" than the public  sector noting "if the government wants to respond better, the private sector  has to be stronger". The minister said the government is working with the  Tourism Trust Kenya  to increase funding to KTF which is an umbrella body of eight private-sector  tourism organisations.

The federation's Adam Jillo said the Sh10 million will  go towards the organization's "safety centre," which is responsible for  monitoring security in the tourism safari sector. KTF's members include Kenya  Association of Tour Operators, Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers  and the Ecotourism Society of Kenya.  Lucy Kambuni, the Tourism Trust head, said her organization will soon be asked  to match the funds it gets from the government.

Edwin is a specialist in African Safaris and a tour operator. His tour company, African Safaris & Adventures, has presence in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Egypt, Madascar, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Seychelles.
This Article has been viewed 13 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.