A year ago, the white sands of Nyali beach, a coastal resort area north of Mombasa, were dotted with European tourists, strolling, swimming, tanning and spending money. The winter high season usually sees fully booked hotels, maxed out safari tours and daily flights chartering in thousands of travelers in search of the exotic. Today, the beaches are empty, the crafts markets deserted, and many resorts all but closed. Ethnic violence, which began in the post-election chaos, has effected every sector of the Kenyan economy, and has witnessed the most drastic fall in tourism in Kenya’s history, an industry which reportedly brought in over one billion dollars last year. (1)

On December 27th Kenya held an election which was widely decried as fraudulent. While the opposition called for a recount, the country broke out in riots and violence, largely divided on ethnic lines. In the following month a reported 800 people were killed, including 50 women and children who were burned alive while seeking refuge in a church, and another quarter of a million people displaced, mostly ethnic Kikuyu. (2)

Tourists and visitors already in country were advised to stay where they were, as transportation within the country had been interrupted and was considered riskier than sitting tight. And although no tourists had been harmed or targeted, countries around the world issued the strictest travel warnings and the usual influx of tourists came to a grinding halt. The results were immediately felt, and the Director of Kenya’s tourist board has said that the huge drop in tourism could result in the direct loss of up to 120,000 jobs. (3)

Almost a month along and most of the large protests and violence have stopped, the opposition having switched it’s tactics from large scale rallies to economic boycotts. And on January 24th, the leaders of the rival parties, Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, finally met face to face under the mediation of Kofi Annan. Despite continued violence, mostly in the Rift Valley around the town of Nakuru, the US and the UK have already softened their travel advisories and there is a prayer that with the two sides meeting, the mayhem which has paralyzed this once stable country will end. (4)

As the situation simmers and hopefully resolves, the Kenya tourism board is already hatching plans to bring tourists back to their country. Some tour companies say they will wait until May to start taking tourists back into the country, but many feel that it if the travel warnings are lifted and the violence and rioting stops, visitors will begin to return much sooner. Kenya has bounced back from previous calamities, the Mombasa hotel bombings in 2002 and the Nairobi Embassy bombing in “98, and will hopefully prove resilient once again.

(1) news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7179577.stm
(2) news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7169009.stm
(3) www.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article3248539.ece
(4) www.nytimes.com/2008/01/19/world/africa/19kenya.html?scp=11&sq=kenya&st=nyt