East Africans seek reap from booming tourism industry

Eastern Africa citizens are benefiting from less than half of the total revenue received from the tourism industry as there are very little linkages between the sector and other economic sectors, a new report has said. The report “Towards a Sustainable Tourism Industry in Eastern Africa,” released on Thursday in Nairobi shows that in some countries, as little as 22 percent of total tourism revenues trickle to the economy. “Lack of linkages, for example, has resulted in some of the hotels in the region importing supplies that are readily available in the local market,” said Geoffrey Manyara, an economist with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The report shows that some of the best tourism destinations in the region have the highest levels of popover compared to other areas that are less attractive to tourists. In Kenya for instance, the coastal region is one of the poorest according to the government poverty index yet the region is one of the most attractive to tourists because of its beaches and favorable weather conditions. “But this reality can be reversed and enable citizens living in tourist popular areas to benefit more by offering goods or services to the tourists directly or to facilities patronized by the tourists,” said Manyara. The report gives an example of hotel accommodation as one possible core activity of tourism production and consumption where backward linkages that can be established by hotels include those with suppliers of inputs that are needed for immediate consumption, such as meat and fish, dairy produce and vegetables and beverages. Governments could empower local farmers to be the first line suppliers of such produce. “Backward linkages also establish longer term relationships such as with construction companies and manufacturers of equipment, linen and uniforms,” the report said. “When these goods are produced locally they can have a powerful effect on improving the value-added in the host country or region through consumption multipliers and through multipliers associated with the value chain,” it added. The potential of tourism to end poverty is seen in the fact that it is not a single activity, but an agglomeration of many separate and related activities that include transport, accommodation, food and beverage services, cultural entertainment, conventions and trade fairs, sports and recreation. “It can be therefore assumed that the greater the inter- sectoral linkages between the tourism sector and the other sectors, the greater the economic multiplier effects,” notes the report. The report urges Eastern Africa governments to reverse this trend by adopting new plans like investing more in cultural tourism that for instance will enable the local to benefit directly from tourism revenues. In cultural tourism, locals may offer ethnic entertainment services, cultural education and also act as guides for tourism exploring local attractions. “The governments should also require hotels to buy local for goods and services that are available locally to avoid imports,” said Manyara. However, this requirement may not be practical if the goods and services on offer locally do not meet the standards of the hotels or the hotels themselves do not know where to find suppliers within their own locality. In Kenya for example, tourist hotels and fast food restaurants have been importing potatoes from South Africa and Egypt not because those locally available are not able to meet their standards. The problem has been that there is no linkage between the farmers and the hotels to enable farmers adopt better agricultural practices that produce quality potatoes. The report also urges governments in the region to promote entrepreneurship in areas most frequented by tourists to enable locals identify and participate in business opportunities they can benefit in.

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East Africans seek reap from booming tourism industry