A recent update on high-risk areas within Kenya by the UK government was picked by the mainstream media on Tuesday but the manner in which it was reported turned out to be a false alarm.
"The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) identified Nairobi, the coast and resort areas around Mombasa and Malindi, the towns of Narok, Naivasha, Nanyuki and Meru and their surrounding areas, and the northern border counties as high-risk areas," a statement on their site pronounced.
Reports in the media indicated that the UK had issued a new travel advisory which would affect our tourism industry.
A local daily ran with the headline, UK slaps Kenya with new travel alert citing kidnap risk and was quickly picked up various influencers and bloggers.
Another popular site ran with UK exposes Kenya's soft underbelly by issuing fresh travel advisory, spelling doom for the hospitality industry.
The news spread like bush fire and soon found its way to British High Commissioner to Kenya, Nic Hailey, who was quick to rebuff claims by mainstream media that his government had issued a fresh travel advisory.
"The UK has not issued a new travel advisory for Kenya. We keep our Travel Advice regularly updated but today's reports of new warnings or restrictions are false," he tweeted.
Kenyans.co.ke then reached out to the British consulate who went on to clarify the mix-up displayed across various media platforms.
The British High Commission spokesperson made it clear that updates published by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) should not be misconstrued as a formal travel advisory.
"The purpose of Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) travel advice is to provide information and advice to help British nationals make their own informed decisions about foreign travel," she revealed.
She then went on to clarify that regular updates on the FCO were more of a caution adding that UK nationals remain free to make their own decisions regarding travel based on the information available.
"These regular factual updates are different from a travel advisory. A ‘travel advisory’ refers to when the UK advises against all travel or all but essential travel to a particular place," an excerpt of their statement revealed.
The Commission went on to urge its citizens to be on high alert while on various tourist activities such as safaris, reiterating that such expeditions were prime targets for potential attacks.
