• Bill sponsored by nominated Senator Agnes Zani empowers counties to develop and manage tourism.
• But ministry says law will destabilize the industry.
The Ministry of Tourism and hoteliers have opposed a Senate bill seeking to give county governments the mandate to manage local tourism.
Tourism CS Najib Balala and Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers chief executive officer Mike Macharia said the bill if signed into law will cripple the industry.
The bill sponsored by nominated Senator Agnes Zani gives counties the power to develop, manage, market, promote and license tourism.
It gives the county Tourism executive the power to formulate strategies for the sector.
“The CEC shall formulate guidelines and prescribe measures for sustainable development of local tourism,” the bill states.
But the ministry, through the Tourism Regulatory Authority, said the bill is not good for the industry.
TRA chief executive Kipkorir Lagat said placing the management of tourism in the hands of Tourism executives will kill standards that have been developed to market the country as a tourist destination.
“Kenya is marketed as a one tourist destination with diverse and unique attractions across the country. It is for this reason that the national legislation and regulation is important to provide uniformity, norms and standards across the nation and the EAC region,” Lagat said.
He also said the mandatory requirement for a license before one undertakes any local tourism activity amounts to double taxation considering counties have already imposed business permits on operators.
“The County Tourism Bill fails to take into consideration the numerous licenses and levies charged by the county governments. Therefore introducing another function of licensing businesses will increase the tax burden,” he said.
Lagat further said that the law does not state what constitutes local tourism. He said sector players have never reached a consensus on what constitutes local and national tourism.
"This bill is premature because we have never differentiated between local and national tourism," he added.
He spoke during a stakeholders' forum on the bill in Parliament. The bill was read for the first time in the Senate last month.
Macharia took a similar position, saying that allowing individual counties to come up with their own tourism strategies will go against the national and regional agreement to market the country and the EAC as a block.
“In fact, we have agreed to have a borderless region. Now, this proposed law wants to create some borders within the country. This will not augur well for the industry,” he said.
But Zani supported the proposed legislation, insisting that it is meant to empower counties to generate revenue through tourism.
“Counties have been suffering financially and that is why we came up with this law to try and empower the counties. Counties need to generate their own revenue through tourism,” she said.