[allAfrica.com] [Bill_Sutherland_Institute] The Cost of US Advisories on Kenya One Year Later The East African Standard (Nairobi) NEWS May 16, 2004 Posted to the web May 16, 2004 By Gordon Opiyo Nairobi Exactly a year ago, the United States of America and several Western European nations slapped a travel ban on Kenya. Tourism, which has for a long time been the country's main foreign exchange earner, suffered a debilitating setback. Many Kenyans thought that the advisory would be lifted within a very short time. Although European nations would in time lift their advisories with time and not a little pressure, America has been periodically updating its travel warning to its citizens not to travel to Kenya citing fear of terrorist attacks. North America and Europe have for a long time been the traditional source markets for Kenya's tourism industry. The advisory came at a time when Kenya's tourism industry was on the path to recovery after the sharp decline it suffered following the infamous 1997 Likoni clashes. Estimates from the Kenya Tourist Federation show that the country loses between one to $2 million every week. In addition, the KTF says that tourist arrivals from the US dropped by 42 per cent in the period immediately following issuance of the travel advisory. On Thursday, this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Kalonzo Musyoka revealed that high-level negotiations between the Kenya and US governments on how to have the advisories lifted are in progress. Speaking after meeting officials of the Kenya Tourist Federation, the minister said that the economy has lost billions of shillings in the past year as a result of the advisory. But he was optimistic that an amicable solution would be found in the coming weeks. After announcing the Government's plans to retrench thousands of workers, National Security Minister Chris Murungaru expressed his frustration with the advisory, saying he did not understand why it was still in force. "We have done the best to improve security in the country. The General Service Unit personnel have been deployed around all major airports, the tourism police unit is now very strong, all security measures have been upgraded," he said. Murungaru has travelled to the US twice with the specific mission of lobbying the US State Department to lift the travel ban. After declaring several times that the advisories are 'just about' to be lifted, his optimism has sadly turned into frustration. On the ground, Kenya is fast losing vital direct arrivals from the heavy- spending US tourists. Major (rtd) William Kamunge, chairman of the Kenya Tourist Federation, says that the average US tourist spends about $2,500 (Sh195,000) per visit, excluding air fare. Put into the national economic context, the figures run into billions of shillings in lost business. It appears that Tanzania is gaining a large chunk of Kenya's lost revenue. Levis Omondi, the tours manager for Travel Mall Africa Point, says Tanzania's tourist arrivals have been peaking rapidly in the past few months. Since Tanzania has not been affected by the travel advisory, many tourists find it easier to land directly in Tanzania. Because the country has an ecosystem similar to the Kenyan one, they find it unnecessary to visit Kenya. "The Ngoro Ngoro Crater and the Serengeti are proving to be very popular since they are not congested and do not have the poor road network associated with the Maasai Mara," he says. "Some radical steps need to be taken by key players in Kenya's tourism industry to stop the loss of business," he added. But the big question at the moment is why the US still insists on lumping Kenya together with countries such as Iraq, Afganistan, Sudan and Burundi. Kamunge suspects there are strong political undertones surrounding the matter. He says that when Britain placed a negative travel advisory on Kenya last year, it presented specific security areas that Kenya had failed to address. After getting financial and technical support from the British government to meet the conditions, the ban was lifted. But the United States has been largely vague when issuing the advisories. Kamunge thinks the US government is trying to armtwist the Government into enacting the Anti-terrorism Bill and signing a deal that would prevent prosecution of US soldiers in the country. Industry observers say that the US travel advisory has also affected arrivals from countries like Japan and Australia. These countries heavily rely on intelligence from the Americans and usually advise their citizens to follow the US alerts. But private sector players have decided to move a step further to have the advisory lifted. After raising about $70,000 a few months ago, they contracted US consultants Patton and Boggs. The consultants have the mandate to advise on the best way of having the advisory lifted.   =============================================================================  Copyright © 2004 The East African Standard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). =============================================================================