President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya has announced a range of new incentives put in place to encourage tourism in the country. Speaking recently at the opening of Kenya’s first luxury yachting marina in Mobasa, the president unveiled the initiatives including the Charter Incentive Scheme, changes to Kenyan visa regulations, and reduced costs on park fees.
As part of the US$11.7m Charter Incentive Scheme, charter airlines which travel to the coastal cities of Mombasa and Malindi, will now be able to land without any cost. Charter airlines will also be further incentivised as the ministry has announced that they will be subsidised by US$ 30 per every passenger brought to the region. The scheme will continue until June 30, 2018.
Tourist fees have also been revised as the ministry of tourism builds upon last year’s new and simplified e-visa process, by wiping the usual US$ 50 fee for visa applications of children under 16 – this will be effective from February 1, 2016. Additionally, the original KWS park fees of US$ 90 will now be reduced and capped to US$ 60, with a complete removal of VAT charges on national park fees.
The president also announced a number of coast infrastructure improvements that will ease travel to and around the Kenyan coast, saying, “We continue to invest heavily in our infrastructure in the knowledge that quality roads and services are critical to the socio-economic transformation that we all desire.”
Improvements include expansion of JKIA and Malindi airports to handle greater numbers of visitors; construction of the Port – Reitz Mombasa Road and the Dongo-Kundu Bypass that will allow tourists to travel to the South Coast (Diani) without using the ferry; Kenya Ferry Service to buy and operate two new ferries for the Likoni Channel crossing.
