Kenya: Hoteliers Slam Fees At Park

The Kenya Wildlife Services will by end of this month give its verdict on whether to uphold the park re-entry fee or revert to single park entry in Tsavo East.

The wildlife conservation body has given until end of this month, hoteliers inside and outside the park to reach a consensus on how they can both benefit from the park resource.

KWS assistant director in charge of devolution and community wildlife service, Ben Kavu said that despite the hoteliers lamenting that they had lost business after the introduction of the park re-entry fee, it was only two hotels that benefit from single park entry fee into the park.

"KWS will give its guidance at the end of this month when the hoteliers inside Tsavo East and those outside in Voi town will have reached an agreement on how they can both benefit from the resource. Our argument is that once the tourists move out of the park, they only go to one or two hotels outside the park,"Kavu told journalists at Mwatate on Monday.

Kavu challenged the hoteliers to produce a data sheet that shows how much community members outside Tsavo East National park earn from the tourists.

"We want them to tabulate in figures what the community members get from the tourists who move out of the park. We want all to benefit and not one or two hoteliers outside the park," argued Kavu.

He noted that it was a constitutional right for community members to benefit from the park resource.

Last week, hoteliers outside Tsavo East National park complained that ninety per cent of tourists visiting hotels outside the park had cancelled their bookings following the introduction of single park entry fees through a gazette notice by Kenya Wildlife Services last month.

The hoteliers led by Mr Gerald Nyambu who is also the Zomeni Lion Hill hotel manager, lamented that the foreign tourists who had already booked since last year had to cancel their booking's following the turn of events. He said the tourists are now moving to Tanzania.

Nyambu complained that Zomeni Lion Hill hotel had lost business worth more than 3 million shillings since the gazette notice took effect on January 15.

The Voi Wildlife Lodge that is adjacent the Tsavo East National park lost business worth shillings 30 million since the gazette notice took effect.

Yesterday, Nyambu mentioned that the tourists who come through the Tsavo East National park from Malindi and Mombasa usually go for lunch at the hotels outside the park before proceeding with their journey to Tsavo West National park.

He further complained that the re-entry fee has greatly reduced movement of tourists hence affecting the hotels and other service providers who depend on tourists directly and indirectly. "Tourists cannot freely move out of the parks because they will be charged again. This is despite the fact that the hotels and facilities inside the parks are overwhelmed by the high tourist numbers.

Voi hotels, garages, grocery, curio shops and artisan businesses are on their economic death bed following lack of business," decried Nyambu.

Yesterday, information from the KWS website showed that all hotels inside Tsavo East National park were fully booked.