Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said earlier this month that the country’s tourism, the sector hit hardest by COVID-19, was now on a recovery path after months of downturn.

Kenyatta, who spoke during a virtual meeting with elite Kenyan marathoner Eliud Kipchoge, Kenya’s new goodwill ambassador for tourism, expressed satisfaction with the measures being taken by stakeholders in the hospitality sector to protect tourists from the pandemic.

“Safety is not really just a government issue. It is an individual choice. To remain safe and by so doing, keep everybody else safe,” he said in a statement issued after the meeting.

Kenyatta urged Kenyans and visitors to continue observing outbreak-containment protocols.

Kipchoge was in the Masai Mara Game Reserve with his family to witness this year’s annual wildebeest migration.

The president says Kenya is ready to receive tourists and encouraged local and foreign travelers to take advantage of the prevailing low rates to visit the country’s famous sites.

“We have also opened up our skies, and flights are coming. We welcome all those who choose to come,” he says.

The East African nation’s tourism sector had slumped to its lowest level in decades following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, as restrictions put in place locally and internationally curtailed travel.

Since March, the sector has lost 81.8 billion shillings ($770 million), roughly half of its average annual revenue, Tourism Minister Najib Balala says.

The pandemic had literally grounded the industry to a halt, with over 2.3 million employees sent home, a majority on unpaid leave and the lucky ones receiving half pay.

All the top hotels, lodges and destinations were shut down over the past months as they grappled with the lack of visitors.

During the meeting, Kipchoge said he was grateful to represent his country as a tourism goodwill ambassador and assured the president that he will do his best to promote the country as a top travel destination.

Balala says hotels in the Maasai Mara were fully booked, mostly by local tourists, for the current high season and encourages Kenyans and inbound travelers to visit destinations across the country.

Source: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202008/18/WS5f3b1c8ea310834817260e0b.html

Qatar Airways has made refund payments totalling over $1 billion since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March.

The $1.2 billion figure covers over 600,000 passengers, with 96 per cent of refund requests since March now having been processed.

The carrier said that it is currently processing all new refunds back to the original form of payment in less than 30 days.

Qatar Airways also said that 36 per cent of passengers had chosen alternatives to refunds, including exchanging tickets for future travel vouchers, or swapping tickets for Q Miles.

At the height of the crisis the airline said it was getting over 10,000 refund requests per day, leading it to increase automation capabilities (allowing customers to request refunds and travel vouchers online), and redeploying staff from other areas of the business including cabin crew and ground services.

Consumers’ association Which? recently reported that several UK airlines are failing to refund passengers in the timesframes agreed with the Civil Aviation Authority, singling out Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic and Tui and calling on the government “to give the CAA the clout to effectively hold airlines to account”.

Commenting on the news the group’s CEO Akbar Al Baker said:

“With the impact of Covid-19 on global travel, passengers have had to change their plans at short notice and it has been difficult for them to plan ahead with any certainty. What they want and deserve are flexibility and reliability, and in Qatar Airways we hope they find an airline they can trust.

“The amount we have paid out in refunds has undoubtedly had an impact on our bottom line, but it is our duty to do the right thing by our customers and trade partners and as an airline we are strong enough to mitigate the impact of this.”

Source: https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2020/08/20/qatar-airways-pays-out-1-2-billion-in-refunds/

 

Weekend air fares to Kenya’s South Coast region have gone up since the resumption of flights last month signalling high demand from passengers seeking to travel to one of favourite tourist destinations as other routes grapple with low numbers

Airlines are charging between Sh8,900 and Sh5,900 for a one way ticket to Ukunda, making it one of the most expensive routes locally.

For instance, Jambojet is charging Sh8,900 for a one way ticket this Friday for a morning flight to Ukunda with only eight seats left, while the midday flight is going at Sh6,900 and the evening one at Sh5,900.

Skyward Express is charging between Sh6,950 and Sh5,950 for a seat to the coastal city with Safarilink asking for Sh6,500 to the same destination.

At this price to Ukunda, the budget carrier is charging more than what Kenya Airways is levying for a one way ticket to Mombasa with a seat going at as low as Sh4,845.

The fares to other destinations such as Eldoret and Kisumu have remained low at Sh4,500 with the North Rift town seeing fares as low as Sh3,900.

Generally air ticket prices in most of the routes have been cheap because of low demand for flying as Kenyans still reel from the effects of the Covid-19.

When the airlines resumed local flights last month, Jambojet on average charged Sh4,800 for a one way ticket to Mombasa, Eldoret and Kisumu while Fly 540 was charging Sh4,540 on the same routes.

Jambojet said last week it is flying with half seats empty since the resumption of flights on July 15, keeping the prices of air tickets low.

Source: https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/news/counties/Weekend-air-fares-rise-on-coast-tourism-demand/4003142-5610270-tiaaie/index.html

 

Kenya is looking beyond the challenges posed by Covid-19 as it seeks to position the country as a top cruise tourism destination globally.

The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) said cruise ship sector will bounce back once Covid-19 pandemic is contained.

Like almost every sector of the economy, tourism has been adversely affected by the effects of the pandemic. Kenya’s Sh1.3 billion cruise ship terminal is lying idle at the Port of Mombasa with six cruise ships which were expected to call this year cancelled due to the disease.

KPA principal communication officer Hajji Masemo said the prospects of the country’s cruise tourism look bright, noting that the agency is collaborating with the Cruise Africa, an association that incorporates the Indian Ocean, to market cruise tourism.

He said for Kenya to tap the full potential of the sector, the Port of Mombasa needs a “home vessel”.

“This means the ship will be domiciled here, start her journeys from Mombasa to other destinations,” he said.

The cruise sector, Mr Masemo added is one of the fastest growing maritime segments in the world.

“It is growing at an average of 20 percent (save for coronavirus times). We are keen to grow this industry as part of exploiting sustainable blue economy,” said Mr Masemo.

Currently, Kenya has more than 400 crew members on aboard vessels globally.

“We are optimistic that despite the pandemic, we can still get cruises to Kenya. But after the pandemic we will have many ships calling at our terminal,” said Mr Masemo.

He spoke after Kenya made its first ship crew change when six Kenyan and a Zimbabwean aboard a Holland America cruise ship arrived in Mombasa after spending six months in the ship due to Covid-19.

The seven disembarked from Ms Westerdam, the Dutch flagged ship at six nautical miles off the Mombasa Port, just a month after Kenya agreed to the new international measures to open up borders to facilitate seafarers’ repatriation.

The seven had to undergo medical checks before they were allowed to disembark from the ship.

Ms Westerdam, one of the Holland America’s largest cruise ship which was sailing from Port Klang, Malaysia had on board about 300 crew from different countries among them Tanzania, Ghana and South Africa which were also in the process of repatriation.

On July Kenya accepted seafarers’ crew change through Port of Mombasa joining other 13 port states in the world.

Kenya Maritime Authority official Luke Samba said the more than 400 Kenyans were aboard different ships when countries locked their borders. Since July, plans to return them home after completing their contracts are underway.

Some 400,000 seafarers are affected on land or on ships with about 10,000 currently trapped onboard ships across the globe due to the continuing imposition of travel restrictions. This is according to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). It is said some 200,000 seafarers are urgently waiting to leave their ships since their contracts have expired.

Source: https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/corporate/shipping/Kenya-sees-bright-cruise-tourism-prospects/4003122-5610728-po4lgyz/index.html

 

The government has released a list of 130 States exempted from quarantine on arrival in Kenya. 

Some of the countries include; Uganda, US (except California, Florida and Texas), Russia, Turkey, Poland, Rwanda, Cuba and Australia.

Others are: https://katakenya.org/reopening-travel-updates/

 

The list will be reviewed on a regular basis depending on the circumstances on the ground and after a comprehensive global mapping of the intensity of the disease.

All passengers arriving in the country will be required to produce a PCR based Covid-19 certificate whose test should have been done 96 hours before travel.

Kenya uses PCR tests, which directly detect the presence of an antigen, rather than the presence of the body’s immune response, or antibodies.

Some countries use antibody tests which check the blood by looking for antibodies, which may tell if one had a past infection with the virus that causes Covid-19.

Transport CS James Macharia had earlier said passengers traveling out of the country will be required to abide by Covid-19 requirements of destination countries and before boarding, airline operators are under firm instructions to check compliance.

“Passengers arriving after curfew hours shall be allowed to proceed to their hotels but must have a valid passport and boarding pass,” he said.

 

Source: https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2020-08-19-kenya-releases-list-of-130-countries-exempted-from-quarantine/