Tourism in Kenya needs to nurture the force of its indigenous communities.

At the core of travel is discovery - meeting and learning about people from different cultures, ethnic groups with diverse viewpoints. How can the tourism sector step up to be at the forefront of pushing for sustainable development in Kenya? 

Travel and Tourism has been at the core of the economic downturn triggered by the global COVID -19 pandemic in Africa. In Kenya, tourism is the second-largest source of foreign earnings which generated over $1.6 billion in revenue with over 2 million visitors in 2019.

With the borders closed, the slowdown has been a major setback that has put many conservation projects at risk.

As COVID-19 cases grow, and the health-care system and economy come under intense pressure, several social challenges will emerge. Families will lose livelihood; family structures will be disrupted and community cohesiveness will be tested. Furthermore, Covid-19 has exaggerated social inequality and we have witnessed a ceaseless string of domestic violence incidents with young girls and women finding themselves disproportionately represented on the most vulnerable list and virtual unemployment queues.

While most of the tourism sector is bogged down in its own business survival at the moment, clearly a systemic change is in order. There has to be a new commitment in the Kenyan tourism sector to not only advocate more sustainable practices, but also aim for broader social justice for employees and communities. That means affirmative action programs, employment for local Masai girls, commitments to providing employees with living wages, and to transform leadership so that it’s representative of its local communities.

In light of the disease’s potential to create social upheaval, never more has a robust community-based response been critically important now and, likely, for a sustained period. All key stakeholders need to be involved to support the response and to help tweak it for maximum effectiveness in each local context.

This is such a wonderful opportunity to truly deliver on the promise of travel and cultural understanding and the tourism sector in Kenya would be much better off for doing so.