Tourism in Kenya
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kenya Tourism Board is responsible for maintaining information pertaining to tourism in Kenya.[1][2] Tourism is the 2nd largest source of foreign exchange revenue following agriculture.[3]
The main tourist attractions are photo safaris through the 19 national parks and game reserves. Other attractions include the mosques at Mombasa; the renowned scenery of the Great Rift Valley; the coffee plantations at Thika; a view of Mt. Kilimanjaro, across the border into Tanzania;[4] and its beaches along the Indian Ocean.
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[hide]History[edit]
Lee Jolliffe, in her book and Transformations, argues that Kenyan tourism hasn't developed on its conservation of natural resources, though "beach tourism, eco-tourism, cultural tourism, sports tourism all form part of the portfolio."[5] During the 1990s, the number of tourists travelling to Kenya decreased, partly due to the well publicised murders of several tourists.[6] However, tourism in Kenya has been the leading source of foreign exchange since 1997, when it overtook coffee, and the trend continued, with the exception on 1997–1998.[5]
2007–2008 Kenyan crisis[edit]
Main article: Kenyan presidential election, 2007
Following the controversial 2007 presidential election and the 2007-2008 Kenyan crisis that followed, tourism revenues plummeted 54 percent from 2007 in the first quarter of 2008.[7] It fell to 8.08 billion shillings (US$130.5 million) from 17.5 billion shillings in January–March 2007[7] and a total of 130,585 tourists arrived in Kenya compared to over 273,000 that year.[8] Tourist income from China dropped 10.7%, compared with over 50% from traditional revenue earners the United States and Europe.[7] Domestic tourism also improved by 45%, earning the tourist sector 3.65 billion shillings out of the 8.08 billion in the period being reviewed.[7][8]
Conference tourism was badly hit during the first quarter, dropping by 87.4% compared to the growth that was witnessed in 2007.[8] 974 people arrived in Kenya during that period for many conferences were cancelled.[8] Business travel declined by 21 per cent during the time period and 35,914 travellers came into the country compared to 45,338 during the same period the year before.[8]
Kenya won the Best Leisure Destination award at the World Travel Fair in Shanghai, China, in April 2008.[9] The Permanent Secretary in Kenya's Ministry of Tourism, Rebecca Nabutola, stated that the award "goes to testify that Kenya has a unique world acclaimed tourism product. The recognition will no doubt boost Kenya's tourism and enhance its profile as a leading tourist destination."[9]
Visitor attractions[edit]
A large proportion of Kenya's tourism centres around safaris and tours of its great National Parks and Game Reserves. While most tourists do visit for safari there is also great cultural aspects of the country to explore in cities like Mombasa and Lamu on the coast. The Masai Mara National Reserve is usually where the Maasai Village can be found that most tourists like to visit. There is also a lot of beaches to visit in Kenya, where you can experience water boarding, surfing, wind surfing and many more fun activities that are good for Kenya's economy.
National parks[edit]
Kenya National Parks are controlled by Kenya Wildlife Services, who look after and protect the areas. The wages of workers in the National Parks are usually funded by entrance fees charged for safaris and tours. Unlike Animal Reserves, National Parks allow strictly no human habitation. Kenyan national parks are an extremely common tourist attraction in Kenya.
Main article: List of national parks of Kenya
Amboseli National Park[edit]
Main article: Amboseli National Park
Amboseli National Park, formerly Maasai Amboseli Game Reserve is in Kajiado District, Rift Valley Province in Kenya. The park is 390 km² (150 mi2) in size at the core of an 8,000 km² (3,000 mi2) ecosystem that spreads across the Kenya-Tanzania border. The local people are mainly Maasai, but people from other parts of the country have settled there attracted by the successful tourist-driven economy and intensive agriculture along the system of swamps that makes this low-rainfall area (average 350 mm (14 in) one of the best wildlife-viewing experiences in the world. The park protects two of the five main swamps, and includes a dried-up Pleistocene lake and semi-arid vegegation.
Kora National Park[edit]
Main article: Kora National Park
Kora National Park is located in Coast Province, Kenya. The park covers an area of 1,787 square kilometres. It is located 125 kilometres east of Mount Kenya. The park was initially gazetted as a nature reserve in 1973. It was gazetted as a national park in 1990, following the murder of George Adamson by poachers.[10]
Lake Nakuru National Park[edit]
Main article: Lake Nakuru
Lake Nakuru National Park (168 km²), created in 1961 around Lake Nakuru, to the south of Nakuru Town, in the Great Rift Valley. It is best known for its thousands, sometimes millions of flamingos nesting along the shores. The surface of the shallow lake is often hardly recognisable due to the continually shifting mass of pink. The number of flamingoes on the lake varies with water and food conditions and the best vantage point is from Baboon Cliff. Scientists have calculated that the Flamingoes feed on 250,000 kilograms of algae per year for each hectare of surface area.[11] Also of interest is an area of 188 km around the lake fenced off as a sanctuary to protect Rothschild giraffes and black rhinos.
Mount Kenya National Park[edit]
Main article: Mount Kenya National Park
Mount Kenya National Park (0°07′26″S 37°20′12″E), established in 1949, protects the region surrounding Mount Kenya. Initially is was a forest reserve before being announced as a national park. Currently the national park is within the forest reserve which encircles it.[12] In April 1978 the area was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.[13] The national park and the forest reserve, combined, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.[14]
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