Slumbering western tourism pegs revival hopes on Obama activities

Tourism players in western Kenya are hoping to reap from business spilling from activities pushed out of Nairobi during US President Barack Obama’s visit.

Despite announcement that the US president will not make a trip to his father’s ancestral village of K’Ogelo, hotels in the region are already feeling the influx of high profile visitors in the country.

The hotels say the influx is as a result of companies, organisations and individuals who have decided to stay away from the tight Global Economic Summit (GES) in Nairobi.

Big hotels among them Acacia Premier, which is set to host a Safaricom Business meeting of 150 participants in Kisumu, Imperial and those in Siaya are gearing for the boom.

The teleco is believed to have chosen Kisumu owing to the inconveniences caused by the summit which has seen most hotels in Nairobi fully booked.

The surge of visitors has also been experienced in hotels at the lakeside such as St John Manor, Le Savanna and Royal City.

Mr Robinson Anyal, Western Kenya Hospitality Leaders Association CEO, told Nation that ‘more people were visiting the region following the fact that Nairobi is literally on holiday’.

“There are people who are travelling to connect with the US President by just being in his village or his region of origin in western Kenya,” said Mr Anyal.

He said business tourists seeking to explore opportunities in the region have also been booked at various hotels in the region.

“Our profile is now higher than before. What we pray for is that President Obama makes a personal decision to travel here even for thirty minutes,” Mr Anyal said.

K’Ogelo Village Resort has also felt the impact of the activities that were scheduled in the area ahead of the tour.

Visitors who booked to spend time at Sovereign Hotel in Kisumu from Saturday flew in earlier than planned.

The hotel management said apart from the business they record in normal days, there were indications of an increased booking ahead of the weekend.

Sovereign marketing manager Ms Carolyne Ayugi told Nation that the spillover from the business in Nairobi will definitely be felt in Kisumu.

“We have not seen an exploded booking like we could experience should the US President had visited Kisumu. But so far, we cannot complain since there is good business for the weekend,” said Ms Ayugi.

K’Ogelo resort managing director Nicholas Rajula said the hotel has also done well in the past two weeks from an influx of foreign and local tourists.

He said they have high hopes that the visit will continue even after President Obama flies back to the US.

Mr Rajula said Kogelo will remain in the tourism map long enough to make the area achieve its full potential.

“There have been people walking in for the activities that the county government of Siaya planned here in the village. We are now on the World’s map. We are also banking on the visits by investors who will follow after President Obama,” said Mr Rajula.

Mr Rajula said there should be no lost hopes in an Obama tour of the village as it will be his decision to make.

“I have been in consultation with the family and our wish is that the president visits here even for a few minutes. This might happen unexpectedly because our brother Barack likes his village,” he said.

Mr Daniel Okumu, chairman Western Circuit Tourism Association, said the confusion over the tour to K’Ogelo will not stop them from promoting the region.

“We have seen many people book cars from our members. Some of these have been booked until Sunday for short tours around western Kenya,” Mr Okumu said.

Kisumu is also looking forward to doing more business in the next three weeks with the planned national music festivals and the ASK regional show.

Siaya County government will continue with its scheduled Obama Sevens as well as other cultural activities connected to the US President’s tour.