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{
    "id": 153636,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/153636/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 101,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Balala",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Tourism",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 9,
        "legal_name": "Najib Mohamed Balala",
        "slug": "najib-balala"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply. (a) Kenya has been affected by the financial crunch globally. After the political crisis that we experienced in 2007/2008, we managed to record 729,000 arrivals, compared to 2007’s over one million arrivals. So, we recorded a 30 per cent decline in the number of arrivals. We hope that we will improve on this. We have worked very hard. Fortunately, the number of arrivals only declined in the three months of January, February and March of this year by 16.5 per cent. (b) We are taking steps to cushion the industry. We, as Government, have given the incentive of reduction of visa charges, so that we can encourage more people to come to the country. We have given a 50 per cent visa fees reduction for adults and given a zero visa charge for children, so that we can create a family destination. We have been aggressive in marketing Kenya overseas. We have spent a lot of energy in marketing and promotion. My worry is that a 69 per cent Budget cut this financial year will lead to a decline in the performance of the tourism sector. Every US Dollar that is invested in marketing Kenya gives a return of US$20. The beach destination is the worst affected. Given that, that is the major share of the pie, as Government, we are working out modalities of how we can create a revolving fund from which hoteliers can access loans that are cheaper than those available on the market, so that we can re-engineer the beach destination as a fresh product."
}