- State Department of tourism principal secretary John Ololtua said that the return of the cruise ship within a period of two months shows confidence in Kenya as an attractive destination for cruise travellers.
- “This is the third vessel to call on this newly refurbished cruise terminal this season, the first one came in November and the second one in December with over 2000 voyagers on board.
Image: Laban Waloga
Kenya on Thursday received the third cruise ship within a period of two months with a total of 795 passengers on board.
The first cruise ship docked in the country in November last year and the second one arrived in December.
Out of the 795 passengers who will be in the country for six days, 620 were students and 175 were crew members.
State Department of tourism principal secretary John Ololtua said that the return of the cruise ship within a period of two months shows confidence in Kenya as an attractive destination for cruise travellers.
“This is the third vessel to call on this newly refurbished cruise terminal this season, the first one came in November and the second one in December with over 2000 voyagers on board.
“They had an opportunity to experience what we offer as Kenya and especially at the coast where we have a lot of attractions including our parks, reserves and the beaches,” he said.
The 620 passengers were university students from America and other countries who came to have an exchange program with Kenyan universities, one of them being Kenyatta University in Nairobi.
Ololtua said that they believe that during their stay, apart from the exchange programs in the universities, they will have an opportunity to visit the parks including the Tsavo national park and others.
“They will also have an opportunity to sample our nice foods, especially the Swahili food. They are excited to be here and I believe they will be able to enjoy our culture and historical sites like Fort Jesus in Mombasa,” he said.
Image: Aura Ruth
In her remarks, the PS said that the cabinet secretary for tourism and cultural heritage Penina Malonza said that the visitors will also create a lot of impact on the economy because they will spend in the hotels, buy artefacts, food and other things.
The PS said that tourism generally is one of the critical sectors that brings a lot of foreign exchange to Kenya.
“I am therefore happy to report that there has been a lot of positive improvement in terms of tourism. Covid-19 affected a lot of travel and that is why the cruise ships were not docking like they are doing right now but now there is hope that this will happen,” he said.
He said that the improved infrastructure including the cruise terminal at the Kenya Ports Authority is what made it easy for the cruise ships to be able to dock.
“For us to have cruise ships docking and our travellers able to travel across the country, we need good infrastructure, improved safety that we can see and above that the direct flights,”
“Recently we were able to launch direct flights to Dubai. These are some of the factors that have seen an increase in the number of visitors that are coming to Kenya,” he said.
According to the PS, cruise tourism is a notch market which Kenya seeks to capitalize on as part of the coastal development to be able to improve the country’s economy.
“We would like to say that we want to take this advantage as a blueprint, this is an industry that is worth billions of dollars and especially for countries with good infrastructure and marketing destinations,” he said.
“The Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) plays a very critical role in marketing Kenya as a tourist destination and therefore as a country, we are ready to be part and parcel of this market and to receive our passengers from the cruise ships.”
He said that one of the factors that have encouraged the cruise ships to increase in number is the lifting of the Indian Ocean from the list of high-risk areas by the international maritime organization.
“Through the cruise ship, we spread awareness of all that Kenya has to offer as a premium tourist destination, so we would like to build and maintain close working relationships and partnerships with the cruise planners and generally the KPA and all other sectors of the government,” he said.
KPA corporate affairs general manager John Kamau said they play a very critical role in facilitating cruise tourism in Kenya and do destination marketing.
“Mombasa Port is one of its kind, it is the only port that we can call a safari port. Tourists can actually dock here and in two hours they are in Tsavo national park. It is one of the packages that we put out there in the world to promote the country,” he said.
He said that the ship came from Mumbai and from Mombasa it is headed to Jordan.
“The passengers will be here for six days so that means that the multiplier effect in terms of economic growth is huge and therefore we will do everything possible to ensure security is perfect,” he said.
Kamau said that the cruise terminal which was developed by KPA is a modern one meant to ensure that the passengers are all secure and comfortable.
“We are looking forward to more of these vessels, we are expecting to have another one in February this year coming in the port and with all these efforts, we are sure that Kenya will become a hub in terms of cruise tourism,” he said.
“We are now green, the issues of piracy are gone. Making the sea safe therefore along the Indian Ocean coastline, Mombasa becomes very important in terms of facilitating cruise tourism.”