Kenya Tourism Bill 2010 Petition

The bill must completely address issues of social injustice

Tourism plays a very important role in Kenyan economy as the leading foreign exchange earner for the country. It accounts for 13.3% of gross domestic product (GDP), 14.7% of foreign exchange earnings and generates 138,000 jobs directly and 360,000 jobs indirectly. As a sector, tourism has a multiplier effect to the other sectors of the economy like transport, agriculture etc.

It is now widely appreciated that though the tourism industry is rapidly growing and having a positive economic impact nationally, the same impact has not been adequately translated to the same regions where tourism takes place. In some of the prominent tourist attraction Districts like Narok, Kajiado, Trans Mara, Kwale, Kilifi, Lamu, Taita Taveta, Malindi etc. poverty levels are higher than the national poverty indexes/levels with Kwale, Kilifi and Malindi having absolute poverty prevalence at over 75% yet on aggregate, they account for over 60% of tourist beds in Kenya.

The question therefore that communities involved in tourism and other key stakeholders are struggling to appreciate is; how to translate the nation (and District) tourism economic impact into local economic development and consequently into sustainable livelihoods.

The Tourism Bill 2010 was one of the best tool to address to this inequalities by creating provisions for wider and meaningful participation of Kenyan communities in tourism and gain meaningful returns to turn around their livelihoods and not to wallow in abject poverty in the land of plenty. The previous Tourism policies have subscribed to the old school of thought that saw tourism as just travel and leisure and as a source of foreign exchange for the government. This thinking is outdated as the world through the auspices of the United Nation World Tourism Organization, has over the last decade tried to showcase how tourism is a tool that developing countries can use to overcome the gretest challenge of our time; Poverty and contribute to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals(MDG's).

South Africa is a classical example of a country that used its policies to integrate communities (previously marginalized groups)into tourism for them to own a piece of tourism industry and to enjoy it fruits.

Kenya can not afford to be out of sync/tune with the global trends and best practices that empowers its people to own and gain meaningfully from tourism just to please a few elitist who have all along selfishly safeguarded the fruits of tourism for themselves and their foreign cronies and thereby making our beloved Kenya the most unequal society in the world. The social inequalities brought about by tourism was the cause of the infamous 1997 Likoni Clashes that brought the tourism to its knees for close to six years besides the fact that the 2007 (ten years later), post election violence that nearly brought our country to precipice was fueled by social inequalities among others.

The time to act is now... sign the petition and circulate to as many of your friends and family as possible.

Any efforts towards the control of tourism industry should be based community participation, environmental conservation and sustainability of the industry. it is important that all the stakeholders are involved.

We thankyou for involving the public in the tourism bill to contribute in there views. This is very encouraging and we look forward to seeing the bill signed soonest.
regards
EDDY

#4: EDISON KAINGU -  

The partinent issues are that for tourism to be sustainable, profits/economic sustainability should be ballanced with environmental sustainability and social justice.......... Communities should be the loci...............

 

We need 100 signings from you!!!!!!!!!

#3: Hillary Ketem - Tourism Bill 2010 

Hi! Agree 100%. The kenyan community should be the drivers of tourism if we are to realize the Vision 2030 whose number one economic driver is tourism. Any deviation from this is surely a recipy for disaster

Tourism is a very exploitative industry if respective countries do not put in place appropriate mechanisms to cushion the vulnerable groups at the end of tourism value chain. Kenya our beloved county is one of the very few countries that have left their poor vulnerable communities to be exploited by the rich multinational chains and the Wenyeinchi (The elitist and exploitative few).
Many rural communities often in remote areas – are isolated from information on industry and lack the necessary financial capacities to hire technical services and other strategic expertise to protect their interests and rights when they engage with the private sector.

Their capacity imbalances at dialogue/negotiation table make it impossible for them to articulate their communal needs and values, protect their communal resources, their intellectual property rights, their cultural heritage etc as these noble traditional wealth seldomly fit into corporate profit equilibrium.

The consequences of the above sorry situation is that many communities are easily shortchange by the private sector and find themselves alienated from their ancestral land, their fishing grounds, their shrines and areas of spiritual significance, their strategic dry season dispersal areas etc. These real-estate ends up in the hands of third parties who convert them for touristic businesses with no reasonable returns accruing to the communities.

Tourism therefore has continued to sustain poverty in rural Kenya while on the contrary growth in the sector is recorded at the macroeconomic level with the elitists smiling their way to the bank.

Take for example a farmer in the Masai Mara. The great migration of the wilder beast heralds unprecedented losses to him. The beast calf in their land and poison it with the deadly malignant cater disease which exterminates countless cows and they are never compensated for it. The migration brings with it countless tick loads that no amount of spraying can help. These people loose lots of their cattle to preditors i.e. lions, hyenas, jackals, leopards, cheaters’ etc without any form of compensation given to them. They cannot farm on their fertile well watered land because the wildlife will decimate their crops etc. Their children never go to schools because of wildlife attacks etc. the most regrettable thing is that besides them shouldering all this tourism and conservation costs, they get northing from tourism to discount them.

Kindly sign this petition and protect the livelihoods of the Kenyan communities who beside being custodians and owners of the tourism product, are not recognized by the Tourism Bill 2010 and no mechanism whatsoever are put in place for them to get commensurate returns proportionate to their contribution to the tourism industry.

#7: Ole Taiko Lemayian - COMMUNITIES SHOULDER THE COSTS OF TOURISM AND NEVER GET COMMENSURATE RETURNS 

 

It is not easy to penetrate the Kenya;s tourism value chain. The big brothers in the industry have seen to it that no stranger penetrates the chain. They use all the means (scotch earth tactics) to lock out newcomers. One of the strategic schemes they use is to control the industries umbrella organizations and smother any upcoming institution by locking them out of the bugger Tourism Federation. I have a personal experience in this and I tell you it is never the best experience anyway.

Key individuals in the industry demonize personalities and institutions without caring to know the individual/institutions or what their intention is. They buy-in anything for the face value of it as long as it is from the privileged club.
The shear mention of the word community empowerment sends shivers through the spines of a few who have made their fortunes and continue to rake-in handsome returns from community land. This individuals will trivialize anything community and often brag that they are community too by extension.

To maintain the status quo, they guard the tourism value chain so jealously. The big players make it impossible for any Mwnananchi without patronage from within themselves or from political powers that be, to penetrate the chain. They will own, chains of hotels, have tour companies to bring them tourists, have tour vehicles, farms to grow crops and rear poultry etc for their hotels, have chattered aeroplanes all and everything. In this case therefore, tourism might be the only industry that allows manufactures to be producers, wholesalers, retailers etc.

It’s because of the above scenario that communities in tourism area are powered that their colleagues from non tourism area. Milk farmer for instance are not allowed by low to run a milk processing diary, nor the diary allowed by law to retail the products and so on giving every player at the milk value chain an opportunity to specialize and make a living out of it.

It is for this very reason that we ask Kenyans to sign the petition and unlock the tourism fortunes to Kenyans.

It is preposterous to imagine of an industry where the producers and the exporters of a product or service not having a say in it. Tourism in Kenya can not pride to sustain itself on these premise. It is dangerous, reckless and myopic in every sense of the world.

Tourism Bill 2010 must address to these issues now.

i agree with the petition contents, need not comment any further!

Tourism must be sensitive to the environment. Cowboy operators should be banned or heavily fined. Please value what you have.

We are in solidarity with the petition and the concerns raised therein are fully backed by us. We need a bill which is all inclusive, equitable to the devolved levels of governments. We therefore believe and trust that as stakeholders our pleas are going to be heard and addressed.
Thank you

Irresponsibility is and shall remain our worst undoing.

Without the Kenyan workforce,there wouldn't be any tourism.
Also .the poaching issues need to be dealt with,and more needs to be done to preserve the wildlife that draws people to Kenya.
Like all tourism ,across the world,the workers at all levels are poorly paid,The catering and Hospitality businesses employ desperate people at the cheapest rates.Even in the UK.

A very worthwhile Petitio.
Hope you reach thousands of signatures.

Due to the stupity of humans our wildlife is getting killed.Whether its the human throwin hands around when at a lion sighting and lions charging The lions gets killed.Due to the stupity of humand getting out of vehicles to go closer to a big cat the human gets attacked the big cat gets killed THIS NEEDS TO STOP Sign this to change the rules and help STOP the stupity of humans

Tourism in Kenya must benefit ALL those who are involved, and their concerns must be listened to.

cruel accident drivers should be sued for diz

Please sign this petition,this is very Important.

#15: Henn Bea - Fair tourism for the Benefit of all Kenyans. 

 I and my family visited Kenya last year and found it a warm and welcoming land, full of wonderful wild animals on safari, and friendly people who treated us like friends.  If elephants are killed for ivory and become less to see, then tourism will suffer, and so will kenyan people.  Please stop the poaching and keep Kenya a magical place to visit!!

There is never a better time that NOW to protect our beautiful wildlife that are quickly disappearing because of humanity's greed, irresponsibility and lack of respect. It is our moral duty, we are all rightful inhabitants of the Earth.

#5: Guest - Re: You are very right 

You are me are the foundation of the industry not the big guys who live in the ivory towers....... Waiting for your 100 signarures........

congratulation to the members who contributed to the tourism petation bill 2010 and i here put my full support to the same.