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The move by the government to ease travel regulations has seen the number of local tourists visiting Hell’s Gate National Park in Naivasha double in the last one month.

The Covid-19 pandemic had adversely affected the tourism sector, with the number of visitors to the world renowned park dropping by 99 per cent.

At the height of the pandemic, parks across the country were closed down, leading to a major decline in revenue for the government agency. 

At Hell’s Gate, the management has embarked on a customer care week targeting local tourists whose number has been swelling in the last couple of weeks. 

According to the warden in charge of the park, Lillian Ojuoga, the pandemic had adversely affected the tourism sector due to stringent measures introduced by the Ministry of health.

The senior warden was, however, confident that with the easing of the rules, the park that is home to hundreds of animals and tourist sites could regain its glory.

“After the lockdown business went down, but we have seen the number of visitors rise sharply mainly during weekends, which is encouraging,” she said.

On the customer service week, Ajuoga said that they were targeting local tourists though international visitors were also trooping in. 

She identified some of the main features in the park as the Fischers Towers, camping and bike riding,  adding that this was the only park where visitors were allowed to walk in.

“The park is also home to various endangered species of vultures and we are working with stakeholders to save them.”

On his part, the officer in charge of customer care, Peter Gatei said that they were keen to address their customers’ needs.

He said that apart from the visit to the park, they were targeting the nearby geothermal spa, the only one of its kind in East and Central Africa.