The county government of Lamu has announced plans to re-introduce festivals in its strategic plan to market the county globally starting this year.
The announcement was made by Lamu county tourism executive Josephat Musembi during a meeting with stakeholders, Tuesday.
The move will be a reprieve to the ailing sector that has seen the number of tourists dwindle over the last few years that the festivals have not taken place.
Once branded an ‘Island of festivals’, Lamu would host close to 10 festivals annually, which saw the region attract local and international tourists.
The festivals included Eid-Ul-Adhar, Maulidi Festival, Food and Expo Festival, Lamu Fishing Competition, Lamu Art Festival, The Lamu Cultural Festival, Lamu Yoga Festival, the Kite Festival, Shella Hat Contest and the Lamu Painters Festival.
All of these festivals would be conducted in different months within the year.
Every festival would attract over 30,000 tourists and visitors to Lamu according to the Lamu Tourism Association.
The festivals which came in around 2014, were a key force in reviving the tourism sector after Lamu witnessed the brunt of terror attacks in the same year.
They however died out in 2017 and not a single one has been held ever since, scarring the sector even more.
However, speaking in Lamu, Musembi said plans are in top gear to ensure all the festivals are marked this year to enable the sector recover.
“Even though the dates we are used to marking these festivals might change, let it be known that the festivals are coming back this year. We have a meeting on finalising all logistics this month and we are good to go," Musembi said.
He said the tourism department was also actively undertaking a digital marketing campaign aimed at attracting visitors to Lamu.
“We are doing all we can as a county to recover all we lost and that includes the digital campaigns, stakeholder engagements and trainings. The objective is to make Lamu a top tourist destination in Africa,” Musembi said.
He said the operationalisation of the Lamu Port and the planned revamping of the Boni-Dodori reserve presents the county with new tourism investment opportunities.
There are plans by the national government to upgrade the reserve to a national park with the county government announcing its readiness to spend Sh45 million in training community rangers for the same.
At least 100 youth have been recruited to undergo training at the Kenya Wildlife Service Law Enforcement Academy in Manyani for a three-month course after which they will be absorbed by the agency to work in Boni-Dodori once the upgrade takes effect.
The Boni National Reserve is 1,339 km2 while the Dodori is 877km2 and both lie on the northeast Coast of Kenya near the Kenya-Somalia border in Lamu and Garissa counties.
The two have been recognised for the conservation of biodiversity.
Once it becomes a park, the Boni-Dodori national reserve will join a host of other parks in the country like Maasai Mara and Amboseli.
