Africa-Press – Kenya. The hotel industry in Kisumu and Western Kenya has welcomed the move to call off Azimio’s nationwide protests. Key stakeholders in the industry said a peaceful environment should be sustained for the long run to allow them to do business.
Azimio leadership, led by opposition chief Raila Odinga on Sunday called off the demonstrations after President William Ruto ceded ground for some of their demands.
Reacting to the new development, Lake Victoria Association chairman Robinson Anyal said the decision came at the right time when the region is expecting to reap from bookings for the Easter weekend.
He said as an association, they were working with their members and respective bookers for postponement and no cancellations. “Now we are expecting those postponements in bookings to flow in immediately,” he told the Star in an interview on Monday.
Kisumu, according to the association has a bed capacity of approximately 10,000 beds from hotels, homestays and Airbnb. “For the region, 80 per cent of business we do is from the domestic and local market,” he said.
“Conference and accommodation take a large percentage. 60 per cent of monthly income is from accommodation for the majority of our members.” The chairman said demonstrations are detrimental to the image of any tourist destination.
“The industry performance has fallen to below 20 per cent which is not sustainable. We are not yet out of the negative effects of Covid-19 and electioneering,” he said.
Anyal said the majority of high-end hotels in the region are not more than six years in business. “They are yet to start breaking even below the high Capital intensive investments,” he said.
Most hotel managers in the lakeside city while welcoming the decision for dialogue condemned the protests that left a trail of destruction in its wake as criminals and looters took advantage of the denominations to destroy property.
Best Western Hotel Kisumu general manager Peter Ayuko described as unfortunate what was reported to have happened to one of the leading hotels in Kisumu town during the riots.
“Our industry was just beginning to recover from the long visit by Covid-19 in general and the January business effects in particular,” he said.
“We appreciate that the political leadership in Kisumu has condemned the behaviour in the strongest terms possible.”
He said they hope that the government and all political players will protect hospitality establishments and shield them from future aggression and riots.
Royal City Hotel-Town general manager Nelson Miguna said the hospitality industry was badly hit by the staged demonstrations when it was yet to start the recovery process after the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are bitting that hand that feeds us, the investment opportunities are wading away. We are however grateful to the county government for issuing a statement against the hooliganism and assuring the residents and potential investors of restoring calm and taking action against the criminals in future,” he said.
He said the industry players are keen to welcome guests to Kisumu and through a partnership with the county government, the Hotel sector looks forward to marketing the region.
General Manager Facility at St. Augustine Hotel Robert Ayoko, said even though the Constitution allows demonstration, on the same breath, it doesn’t allow infringement of someone’s right or destruction of property.
“What we witnessed is uncalled for. Several properties within and outside the town were vandalised. As hospitality practitioners, we warmly request Western leaders to condemn such acts,” he said.
Ayuko said the hospitality industry in Kisumu was currently at its lowest. “Kisumu closed an average trading in March whose last one and a half weeks was a total disaster. Our accommodation is below 5 per cent and all conferences have been cancelled,” he said.
He said moving forward, all the political players need to sit down and agree on the current issues to not only help Kenya as a country but the Tourism industry in particular.
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