Numbers of Kenyans visiting parks almost back to pre-pandemic days, KWS DG Waweru says

Numbers of Kenyans visiting parks almost back to pre-pandemic days, KWS DG Waweru says

Kenya Wildlife Service Director General Brigadier (Rtd) John Waweru. PHOTO| COURTESY

Even as the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the world and devastated tourism, it did see Kenyans leave their homes to go enjoy the local flora and fauna.

Kenya Wildlife Service Director General Brigadier (Rtd) John Waweru says that efforts by the government to promote local tourism bore fruit and Kenyans rediscovered their love for nature.

“We are now seeing numbers we had back in 2019 and that is a very encouraging sign seeing local tourism growing,” said DG Waweru.

The DG said that may Kenyans thought they would be charged like foreign tourists and that kept them away from the parks but that has since changed.

“The first thing we did was create awareness, we had to inform Kenyans that visiting the parks is very cheap for Kenyans as compared to tourists,” he said during the Dubai Expo 2020 in Dubai.

“We also cut the cost of visiting the parks by half and this saw many leave their homes and go to the park to enjoy the wildlife.”

Another encouraging sign for the KWS boss was when the numbers remained constant even after the offer expired early this year.

“The discounted rates we had offered ended this year but we are not seeing a slowdown in the numbers and that is a very encouraging sign,” he added.

Domestic tourism in general has helped keep the hospitality industry afloat when international tourists stopped travelling due to global lockdowns.

Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala says that local tourism is now leading.

“Domestic tourism is on the up. Before the pandemic, it used to be 80-20 - international versus domestic - but we are now seeing a major flip and it is the way with domestic tourism leading,” he said.

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