Kenya Association of Tour Operators chairman Adam Jillo urged the government to be "cognisant of the issues facing the tourism industry" in regards to dealings between the two countries as it goes into negotiations with Tanzania.
"If they allow Tanzanian tour operators to have access to our national parks, Kenyan tour operators should also be allowed access to parks in Tanzania," Jillo said.
On Sunday, Foreign Affairs and International Cabinet secretary Amina Mohamed said tour vehicles from Tanzania will be allowed access into Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to pick their clients as part of a deal sealed over the weekend to get Tanzania to allow Kenya Airways to resume 42 flights weekly instead of 14 announced last week by the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority.
Tanzania had reduced KQ's flights following a dispute over access into JKIA by its tour operators.
Kenya had barred Tanzanian tour operators from accessing JKIA after several cases of harassment and denial of entry into the neighbouring nation's national parks of local tour operators using Kenyan registered tour vans.
"Any agreement to be made must be on reciprocal basis," said Jillo.
Tourism Cabinet secretary Phyllis Kandie said a "comprehensive review" will be done to work towards a new bilateral agreement that will address issues in tourism, transport and other trade matters like Non Tariff Barriers.
"What happened after the presidential directive is that we went back to the status quo pending comprehensive bilateral deal which will follow to cater for the needs of Tanzanian and Kenyan people," Kandie said.
The two were speaking after the launch of an online tourism product directory yesterday in Nairobi by Kenya Tourism Board.
The online directory which is hosted on the KTB website magicalkenya.com lists various tourist attraction sites, accomodation and tour operators to help visitors locate areas of interest in Kenya.
"Out there people think of Kenya as having a very narrow product range. The directory will give a lot of information especially from the counties," said Ndegwa.
SOURCE; allAfrica.com
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