The Situation in Kenya

Kenya is one of the top African safari destinations and many tour operators had a number of clients traveling there at the time the election crisis erupted almost a year ago. Many who were booked to travel there at that time either canceled their vacation or opted for a different safari destination the likes of Tanzania or Uganda.

The unrest and uncertainty had arrived just as Kenya was preparing for the height of its tourist season. Tourism in Kenya has been growing and and 2007 had actually been the best year in terms of tourist visits the country had ever seen.

The violence was now threatening to destroy this country that over the years had been a beckon of peace in a volatile region.

Meanwhile the European and American governments where issuing travel warnings and recommending only the most essential of travel to the country.

Tour operators in the meantime where fighting hard to counter media-fuelled images of a country in flames, and assure people that the safari industry has been able to continue with the business of leisure as per usual.

Thankfully no tourists where reported injured or caught up in the violence.

It’s often a fine balance tour operators have to walk. Contrary to the perception that the travel industry will maintain tourist numbers at any cost, an injured tourist is very bad for business indeed - and on this score tourism operators share precisely the same commitment to travellers’ safety that diplomats do.

However, tourism operators have the advantage of knowing precisely how their business is affected by the situation and of being able to see through the smoky confusion of those images on our TV screens, simply by virtue of being right there.

As a result of the crisis many African countries enjoyed a boom on the back of Kenya’s misery. Tanzania, Mauritius, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana all of which have wilderness experiences and beaches competing with Kenya.

Today as the tourism industry slowly emerges from the effects of the violence and with the global economic recession at Naady Travel we are experiencing special and discounted offers from our supplies who have reduced their prices to entice tourists.

Also visitor reviews from our clients who have taken a Kenya safari have been positive to say the least. Less people on safari means that the lodges are not packed with visitors and the game trails are not full of vehicles making the experience breath taking.

In some places visitors have been delighted to have the lodge all to themselves.