Kenyan hoteliers have petitioned Parliament to create a new cultural public holiday that would give all communities a platform to showcase their culture, traditions and heritage.
Speaking in Malindi, the hoteliers proposed that the holiday be given a place on the national calendar and be marked across the nation every year.
At the Multi Cultural festival, they lamented that not enough had been done to attract more tourists to Kenya especially given the rife competition from other nations.
‘Several tourist destinations have very clean beaches that we can no longer claim to be capitalizing on our beaches to attract tourists especially this time when competition is so rife. We need to come up with unique packages that will inspire tourists to visit our country in large numbers,” Ocean Beach Resort General Manager Maureen Awuor stated.
She explained that it had become necessary to market the country's rich culture as sandy beaches were no longer a big draw for tourists.
[caption caption="Maureen Awuor"]
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“It’s only culture that we have at our disposal that no one can emulate us because every country has different communities with different cultures though ours are very rich.
“This region especially the Mijikenda Culture is very rich I cannot tell why the government is giving the cultural sector a deaf ear to culture and traditions, they mean a lot to tourists, I wish they would understand,” Awuor noted.
The hoteliers further slated the County Government for failing to support initiatives such as the cultural festival that was taking place.
An official of the Amason Kingi-led government, however, promised greater support for the events next year.
“We were still monitoring the whole thing because we could not just come in full force least we burn our feet but I assure you that next year it will be a different story,” Trade, Tourism and Culture chief officer Patience Tsimba stated.
