Mashujaa Day windfall for Kericho hospitality industry

The hospitality industry in Kericho town has reported brisk business ahead of Friday's Mashujaa Day celebrations.

President William Ruto will preside over the celebrations at the Kericho Green Stadium, which has been undergoing upgrades for the past two months.

Hotels in the town have been fully booked for the past week, with neighbouring counties – Bomet, Kisumu, Narok and Nakuru – benefiting from the spill-over.

Kericho Governor Erick Mutai admitted that accommodation facilities in the town and commercial centres in the six sub-counties – Kipkelion East, Kipkelion West, Ainamoi, Soin Sigowet, Bureti and Belgut – have been overwhelmed as a result of the Mashujaa Day celebrations.

“It has emerged that Kericho County has a 700 bed capacity, which provides a huge opportunity for investment in the hospitality industry. The available facilities have been upgraded to meet the required standards ahead of the event,” Dr Mutai said on Thursday.

Mr Alphonce Otieno, the manager of Sunshine Hotels, said the rooms had been pre-booked by clients, with enquiries about the availability of the facilities still being made by prospective clients on Thursday morning.

“All the 53 rooms in Sunshine Upper Hill and 32 at Sunshine Tengecha were booked a week ago for at least seven days. We have also been hosting workshops for the last one month,” said Mr Otieno.

The iconic Kericho Tea Hotel, which has been closed for over five years, has been renovated and reopened while the old facilities in town have also been upgraded and repainted by the operators.

“We have received so many guests in the past few days and all the rooms have been booked,” said a manager at the hotel on Thursday.

The governor urged investors to “expand the existing [accommodation] facilities and construct new ones as Kericho town is set for an expansion with increased traffic of tourism as a result of the construction of Kerenga Airstrip.”

The airstrip, with a 1.2 kilometre runway, will initially accommodate aircraft with a maximum capacity of 37 passengers. This will increase to 60 passengers once the runway is extended to two kilometres. 

Bars and nightclubs have also reported good business over the past two weeks, with operators expecting to make a killing on Thursday and Friday, while petrol stations are selling large quantities of fuel due to the high volume of traffic in the county.

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