Serena Mountain Lodge Hotel Sarova Saba and Treetops Lodge Overbooking Report



Posted: Friday, October 02, 2009

by
African Safaris & Adventures

Kenya safari tourism boom  isn't only happening in Mombassa Kenya  alone, but also in the Mt Kenya safari circuit, some 665km away from the sunny  and sandy coastal beaches of Mombasa  and Malindi. Mount Kenya region is emerging  from a dry spell that saw lodge and hotel bookings hit the rock bottom because  of post-election violence and the global financial crisis.

At Serena Mountain  Lodge Hotel, 15km inside Mt Kenya National Park, hotel rooms are fully occupied  according to the hotel manager, tourists started coming in late last week. "At  the moment we are fully booked. Sometimes we are actually over-booked," said  the lodge's general manager Mr.Mburugu. More than 100km from Mountain Lodge  Sarova Saba lodge in Shaba  game reserve is also brimming. Bookings have risen by more than 87 per cent  since January, according to the manager, Ms Nguatah.

"The going was very bad in  the last one year, but things are really changing for the good. We are fully  booked for August," said the lodge manager. A similar scene was witnessed by  African safaris and Adventures tour consultant Esther Muthoni at Treetops  Lodge, the tree hotel famous for hosting British royalty. The 102- bed capacity  facility was fully booked last weekend, as was Outspan Hotel in Nyeri.

"They are so many of them," said a visibly excited food and beverages  manager at Outspan Hotel Mujomba. But it's not just the tourist hotels that are  reaping from the boom, Tour Operators and travel agents in the area are doing  booming business. The safari companies, some which had been forced to lay-off  staff last year, are back in business and expanding. "There is a lot of work,"  said Mr. Lagat a driver Guide with African Safaris and Adventures. The Mt Kenya  circuit, unlike the Coast, attracts conspicuously high-end tourists out for  safaris in Kenya  and the thrill of lodges, which come at a high price.

Yet not everyone is excited, though hotels under his watch are fully booked,  Mr. Wambugu, group sales manager Abardare Safari Hotels, sounded more cautious,  he said the tourist boom might be short lived. Sustaining the flow, he added,  was the next big challenge.  "It is true  that things are looking up, but the question is, will the tourists keep coming  even after the current high season?" posed the manager. Many hotels at the  coast have recorded higher bookings, mostly pulled up by the high season, but  there are fears the number might dwindle in the first quarter of 2010.

The government has intensified marketing efforts and  has been encouraging Kenyans to tour their country to cushion the sector in the  low season. The boom has its dark side as well; Local residents said that the  return of the foreign guests has awakened some dark trades, such as  prostitution. Apparently, hundreds of tour guides and van drivers are  descending on Nyeri town every night, with loads of money to spend on food,  excursions, drinks and sex. Some streets in the Nyeri and Nanyuki teem with  twilight girls while drinking places and guest houses are packed. "They are so  many twilight girls around now. I hear they are making lots of money," said a  local taxi driver.

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 12 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.