Tourism
Introduction
Tourism is the second-largest source of income after agriculture, making it an essential sector in the Kenyan economy. However, for most of the African nations such as Kenya, international arrivals have been a significant boost for the tourism sector. For instance, in the year 2013, Kenya received over one million foreign tourists making Kshs. Ninety-six billion (Kihima, 2015). Despite the significant step by the Kenyan government to promote domestic tourism, numerous factors such as poor road networks tend to affect the sector leading to low revenues.
Security is one of the major threats affecting the performance of tourism in Kenya. With the rising cases of terrorism and political unrest in the country, both the foreign and domestic tourists always want to be assured of their security when visiting tourist sites (Mburugu & Rotich, 2015). Also, poor infrastructure, as well as lack of quality hotels in some counties, prevents travelers from visiting such regions. In Kenya, the majority of the sites, reserves, and game parks are in the arid and semi-arid areas of the country, and in most cases, they have sparse road networks. Therefore, during the rainy season, it is difficult to access these places.
Equally, a rise in visa fees discourages international tourists from visiting such countries since they aim at reducing expenditure during their visiting days. A visa fee that is more than $100 is a major hindrance to long and short-term visitors, especially when they have families (Mburugu & Rotich, 2015). In 2010, Kenya’s visa fee augmented by more than 50%, and this resulted in a decrease in the number of international arrivals.
Tourism in Kenya is an essential industry since it is the second largest provider of foreign income after agriculture. The tourism sector is faced with a myriad of challenges, among them, being neglected infrastructure, expensive visa fees, and security. As such, it is significant for the government to address the challenges to enhance the tourism sector.