Ensure visitors to Kenya are safe

Tourism is among the key drivers of Kenya’s economy. The others are remittances from the Kenyan diaspora and earnings from agricultural exports to the European Union and trade with the rest of Africa. According to the Ministry of Tourism, the government is devising a new strategy to increase international tourist arrivals to five million by 2027.

Officials want to achieve this through the Tembea Kenya initiative, which aims to boost the number from the current two million arrivals yearly. The Kenya Tourism Board says that in the first half of this year, Kenya generated Sh142.5 billion in tourism revenue due to a significant rise in visitor numbers.

This represents an increase from $1.06 billion in the same period last year.

The agency also said that Kenya welcomed 1.03 million international visitors, marking a 21.3 percent increase from 847,810 in the same period in 2023.

Domestic tourism also saw growth, with 2.25 million bed nights recorded, about a 10 percent increase from 2.06 million in 2023. Experts have always argued that Kenya could fetch more revenue from the sector if it stepped up its marketing strategy, improved the quality of services and diversified its products, ensured safety of tourists, improved efficiency in visa applications, and ensured dignified treatment at airports and migration authorities.

That is why our attention has been drawn to reports that the Kenya Tourism Police Unit (TPU) has launched a four-day intensive training programme aimed at sharpening its officers’ skills to enhance the safety of visitors along Kenya’s Coast ahead of the December festive season.

We gather that the initiative is meant to equip officers with modern crime prevention strategies and deepen their understanding of the rights of arrested individuals, with special attention to foreign visitors.

There are signs that holidaymakers will start flocking to Mombasa, Malindi, and Diani resorts in the coming weeks.

TPU officers will be trained on heightened alert management, maintaining security and addressing potential threats, psychological readiness, investigation of tourist-related crimes to prevent incidents that could jeopardise visitors’ experiences.

Kenya has in the past attracted negative publicity on the safety of visitors, with adverse effects on arrivals. That is why everything must be done to ensure the safety of tourists even as we expect our visitors to adhere to the country’s laws.