Kitui, Nairobi counties agree to set up joint tourism circuit

Kitui and Nairobi counties on Thursday resolved to collaborate to fully exploit the diverse tourism potential inthe two regions through the Nairobi City-Kitui tourism circuit.

In the arrangement, international and local tourists will not only have the opportunity to savour tourism attractions in the city but also in the countryside in Kitui.

Tourism products in both counties will be jointly marketed.

The agreement was arrived at during a courtesy call on Kitui Governor Julius Malombe by a delegation of the tourism sector players from Nairobi county led CEC Dr Anastacia Nyalita.

Malombe was in company of his deputy Augustine Kanani who doubles up as the CEC in charge of tourism in Kitui.

Malombe said through the partnership and courtesy of Nairobi county, Kitui would benefit from tourists who would be referred to attractions in his county.

“They could refer people who do not want to go too far from Nairobi who want to go and see something different from Nairobi which is near and has different things it can offer.

“We have the Tsavo East game park, we have Mwingi North game reserve and we have South Kitui game reserve next to Tsavo,” he said.

He dismissed the widely held notion that a tourism circuit must be connected to a beaches and wildlife only.

“There are many other things. You can have the Nairobi-Kitui tourism circuit. And of course you can extent it to the coast if you so wish,” Malombe .

The governor said the envisaged Nairobi-Kitui circuit could also be extended to the north to link Meru national park and Samburu as well as connecting with the lake region.

He hailed his Nairobi colleague, Johnson Sakaja, for focusing on matters tourism and for seeking to exploit ways of making Nairobi a tourism centre.

Nyalita said Nairobi has a lot to offers in terms of tourism.

“We are very delighted because we know we have a lot to offer in Nairobi. It is the hub. It is a transit area but what about the people who want to have a taste of the countryside. That is where Kitui comes in,” she said.

Nyalita thus underscored the need to jointly map out the tourism sites and products in both counties and market them.

Sijenyi stressed the need to create unique products associated with the two counties.

 “We need to collaborate. We cannot have Nairobi having its own programmes and Kitui its own. We need to work together since we are working for the same Kenyans,” he said.