Relentless lobbying by Kenya’s tourism industry and equally relentless digs by the travel media over Kenya’s decision to only permit online e-Visa applications have shown the best result yet when yesterday, Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that the parallel system of on-arrival and online applications would continue for the time being.
Since the beginning of the month, when the new in advance visa policy came into effect, numerous travelers were told by airlines they could not board their flight to Kenya in the absence of a visa, even though Kenya Airways had informed the traveling public that two desks had been established at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to process passengers who arrived without the crucial document.
Added research by Kenyan tourism organizations also revealed to them that the element of last-minute bookings was in fact much larger than originally assumed.
It could not be immediately established if the Department of Immigration in Kenya has reacted promptly and removed the advisories given to airlines about not to uplift passengers without a visa – and equally removed the threat of fines against such airlines delivering passengers to Nairobi or Mombasa without the e-Visa – but no doubt tomorrow will see a flurry of such activities unfold when the presidential directive filters down the rank and file of Kenya’s bureaucracy.
Said President Kenyatta while on a state visit in Italy: “We have had a number of challenges in the implementation of the e-visa, and I have, therefore, ordered that application of visa on arrival to the country continues as it were.”
President Kenyatta, clearly well briefed this time by Kenya’s tourism sector, also responded to calls for facilitating direct flights from Italy to the Kenyan resort town of Malindi, which has been particularly hard hit in the past by anti-travel advisories slapped on the country by the UK and Britain’s buddies, which had a crippling effect on coastal tourism.
Said President Kenyatta in this regard: “Malindi International Airport will be able to handle direct flights from Milan, and we shall discuss on making this a possibility.”
The Kenya Airport Authority had substantially upgraded Malindi already with a new passenger terminal which was officially opened last year, and Kenya Airways, their LCC subsidiary Jambojet, and others fly daily scheduled services from Nairobi to Malindi. The runway, however, requires extension to cater to larger aircraft than the presently used smaller jets, and once this is accomplished – no time frame is available at this time –no doubt direct flights from Malindi’s main overseas market, Italy, will become a reality.
In a related development, a large number of hosted buyers and international media will be coming to Kenya next month for the annual Magical Kenya Travel Expo 2015, which will be held at the seaside resort of Diani, helping to put the destination on the global map again and boosting visibility in key overseas markets.
