•It is being spearheaded by Tourism and Health departments.
•Tourism, which is among the highest income earners for Mombasa, is one of the sectors that has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Mombasa county government has announced plans to vaccinate at least 3,000 hotel workers in the tourism and hospitality sector in the region.
The exercise, which was launched on Tuesday at Kaderbhouy Health Centre at Makadara grounds, is being spearheaded by Tourism and Health departments.
The vaccination began last week Thursday, however at a slow pace, before the official launch on Tuesday.
According to tourism stakeholders in the region, the move will restore hope and confidence in the industry, which is struggling to stay afloat due to the negative impact of Covid-19.
Tourism, which is among the highest income earners for Mombasa, is one of the sectors that has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since the first Covid-19 case was reported, more than 4,000 jobs are reported to have been lost within the hotel industry, as many facilities have been forced to scale down operations or to close down their businesses.
Mombasa Tourism chief officer Aisha Abdi said that the safety of hotel workers and guests is a priority to the county, as they continue with plans to revive the industry.
She said they will continue working closely with the stakeholders to revamp the industry, which contributes over 8.8 per cent of the national Gross Domestic Product.
“The Mombasa tourism industry has proven to be resilient and unbowed during this pandemic. We are more than ready to put efforts to ensure that the industry bounces back to life,” Abdi said.
Mombasa county health chief officer Pauline Oginga said that the county had so far recorded 78 positive Covid-19 cases in three days of May.
Oginga said in April, the county health department moved around the hotel facilities within Mombasa to inspect them to ensure that they adhere to Ministry of Health protocols on combating Coronavirus.
Speaking shortly after receiving the jab, Calistus Osicho, one of the staff at Voyager Beach Hotel, said that he was happy to have received the vaccine.
He urged other hotel industry workers to take the jab.
“I’m glad I finally received the jab, this will ensure my safety and that of my family. I urge people not to be sceptical about it, but rather find it prudent to get vaccinated,” Osicho said.
Wasike Wasike, operations director at Heritage Hotels Group, urged the government to prioritise hotel workers as frontline workers in the fight against the pandemic.
He said tourists will have confidence in Kenya knowing that the hotel workers have been vaccinated against Covid- 19.
“I received a call from one of our guests asking if all employees have been vaccinated. The guest gave us a condition that come next year January, they will only be back if all workers have been vaccinated,” Wasike said.
The county government aims at ensuring the tourism sector bounces back.
Last Thursday, the county signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tangier City Regional Council in Morocco under the Sister City Program.
The MoU is expected to develop a partnership framework to foster decentralised cooperation in areas of common interest between the two cities.
The partnership is expected to facilitate investment, technology and skill transfer between the two cities especially in the sectors of Tourism, blue economy, infrastructure, manufacturing and cultural exchange.
The county has also signed agreements with Romania and Ukraine that has resulted in chattered planes bringing in tourists to Mombasa since March.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris