Kenya: unlicensed Mara lodges closed

Kenyan government has shut down a number of safari lodges and camps in the wider Masai Mara area which were operating without licenses. More investigations are also underway into properties under construction to establish that they, too, have all relevant licenses, including clearance from National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), and these findings are likely to produce more action against offenders.

The Masai Mara is one of Kenya’s best known tourism attractions and forms the extension into Kenya of the Tanzanian Serengeti National Park, and the annual migration of the wildebeest and zebras moves between the two parks every year, when the big herds follow the rains to find fresh pastures.

Source: eTurboNews, find article here>>.

Kenya: New regulatory regime for hospitality sector

To ensure quality and compliance with relevant other laws and regulations and promoting excellence in the hospitality sector, all new hotel, resort, and lodge projects in Kenya require to be licensed first, before commencing any construction, by a newly-inaugurated Hotel and Restaurant Authority.

The authority will also embark on a nationwide exercise of grading and classification, using the East African Community regulatory regime now in place for all the five member states.

Source: eTurboNews; find article here>>.

Kenya: new tourism law

Kenyan government is said to have agreed on the text of a new tourism law, which will, when passed and made operational, provide for the formation of new bodies as a new Tourism Authority, likely to be a licensing and inspection platform, and a Tourism Finance Corporation, likely a successor to the Kenya Tourist Development Corporation.

The new law would also provide for regional tourist offices to be opened to facilitate a greater spread of tourism activities across the country. The cabinet also gave the thumbs up for a new comprehensive tourism policy, which will, when passed, guide the sector over the next decade and beyond.

Source: eTurboNews; find article here>>.

Kenya: hapless implementation of Civila Aviation Regulation

Three months after the new Kenya Civil Aviation Regulations (KCAR) were enacted despite objections from stakeholders, the first problems appear in their implementation. As stakeholders had feared, Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) staff are overstrained enforcing overly detailed and disorganized regulations.

Formerly routine paperwork has changed to in depth scrutiny as overburdened inspectors and employees turn into sticklers for red tape, trying to adhere to performance contracts and avoid mistakes.

Source: eTurboNews; find article here>>.

Kenya Civila Aviation Regulations (KCAR) availabe for download in pdf here>>.

Kenya: tourism draft law under fire

After completing their tourism policy two years ago, which seems to have taken much inspiration from the generally considered visionary Ugandan tourism policy document, the next stage of development, a new tourism draft law seems to have drawn sharp criticism from the private sector. A consultative committee was therefore put into place to iron out the differences between those who presented the latest draft version and the private sector.
Private sectors across Eastern Africa are now better organized and have learned from each other’s experiences, and an informed Kenyan private sector promptly spotted the anomalies in the latest draft of the law.

Source: eTurbo News; full article here>>.

"Rules for tourist home stays under way"

As reported by Wangui Maina, at Business Daily Africa, "The Ministry of Tourism is considering guidelines to encourage home stays to address bed shortage.
The move will see home owners with extra space get registration to accommodate tourists on their premises, at a cost, and under guidelines stipulated by the ministry.
Currently, there are no proper guidelines on where home stays can be licensed or even a star rating for the facilities as is the case in destinations like South Africa.
Speaking to Business Daily, Mr Mwangi Gakunga, the public relations officer at the Ministry of Tourism, said there was no data on how many home stays there are in the country. 'So far, there are also no clear guidelines on where home stays can be found. However, we are working toward putting them in place,' he added." Read more >>