THE AFRICAN BUSINESS FORTUNE MAGAZINE ISSUE #006 The African Business Fortune Magazine | Page 51

THE AFRICAN BUSINESS FORTUNE - LEISURE

Diani Beach in Mombasa
Tourism contributes about 11.9 percent to Kenya’s GDP at US$ 5.65 billion
against Morocco’s 19.3 percent (US$
20.8 billion), with the latter’s firmness
in promoting its culture and historical
buildings like the Medina of Fez ( the
oldest university in the world build
in 1981) being touted as some of the
country’s decisive strengths.
Of the entire continent’s, Morocco
is the most politically stable nation
in North Africa – Kenya on the other
hand is still battling with the effects of
the 2007-2008 post-election violence,
tribalism, corruption and constant
terror attacks.
Terrorism dealt the biggest blow to
Kenya’s tourism sector which suffered
an 18 per cent drop in tourism numbers in 2013.
Although the Eastern country (Kenya) is doing its share in upgrading
infrastructure, Morocco has already
beaten it to the finishing point. Morocco’s excellent road and rail infrastructure make for a smooth visit through
the country by any tourist.
While Kenya’s investment to the
tourism sector stands at a low of US$
673 million, Morocco which comes
third in tourism investments spends
over US$ 3.7 billion in the sector. In
2014 alone, the number of chain hotel development in the pipeline stood
at 29 hotels with Kenya doing little in
new constructions.
Efforts to renovate government
owned hotel by allocating funds for
the same have been hit by massive
corruption. The renovations that tar-

geted Mombasa Beach Hotel, Ngulia Safari Lodge and Voi Safari Lodge have seen
millions of shillings disappear according
to Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala.
Diversification is another contributor to Morocco’s success in the tourism
sector. The country offers a variety of activities in boosting the sector from camel
rides in the dessert to hiking the Atlas
Mountains. Clean beaches, exotic meals
and historical tours are other sightseeing
areas.
Its strategic location also comes as
an advantage with Morocco only 4 to 5
hours away from Europe. Tourists from
Spain, which is closest to Morocco, frequent the country in accessing its beautiful beaches.
The Moroccan monarchy puts a lot of
focus into the tourism sector ensuring
that it hits all set targets. In 1999, after
the accession of King Mohammed the
sixth, the government drew up a new
tourism strategy called vision 2010, to
increase its tourism numbers to 10 million by 2010. In 2013, Morocco reported
tourism traffic of 10.15 million.
Morocco and Kenya however enjoy an
almost equal amount of business tourism spending standing at 5th and 6th in
Africa respectively. There is a big difference in leisure tourism between the two,
with Morocco which comes 3rd in Africa
at US$ 12.2 billion compared to Kenya’s
US$ 2.6 billion.
The two countries suffer from low domestic tourism spending by residents.
They are ranked at position 30 and 32

in Africa having domestic tourism standing
at 4.5 and 4.4 per cent of total tourism numbers in Morocco and Kenya respectively.
The country’s insistence on beefing up
tourism has paid up for Morocco. The sector
employs a total of 1.96 million Moroccans,
accounting for 17.3 per cent of total employment. In Kenya, tourism employs 10.4 per
cent he population standing at 593.8 thousand people.
Tourism is the 2nd largest foreign domestic earner in Morocco after the phosphate
industry. International tourist spend over
US$ 9.7 billion in Morocco in 2014 alone this
compared to Kenya’s US$ 2.1 billion injected
by tourism.
Kenya has however put forward efforts
to revamp its tourism sector. Flights by the
Royal Air Maroc from Morocco to Kenya will
offer an opportunity to channel the over 10
million tourists that visit Morocco into Kenya. The Kenya Tourism Board will work in
conjunction with Morocco to market Kenya
to its citizenly, in a bid to improve North
Africa’s tourist numbers from the current
373,000 annually.
Kenya is also offering economic incentives
to tourist to beef up its numbers through the
Charter Incentive Programme. They are also
waiving visa fees for children under 16 and
reducing park fees for tourists.
However, more still needs to be done if
Kenya is going to compete with tourism giants like Morocco, South Africa and Egypt.
Kenya needs to beef up its security, clean up
its beaches, ensure effective management of
ferries and clean up corruption in the tourism sector.

THE AFRICAN BUSINESS FORTUNE MAY - JUNE 2016 51