Government Hints at Resuming Operations in the Tourism and Travel Industry

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Among the sectors largely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic were the tourism and travel industry. When COVID-19 first set foot in the country in the March, the government was forced to suspend flights to indefinitely to prevent the spread of the virus. This directive heavily affected businesses in these sectors, as many were forced to shut down operations, sending millions of workers home.

For the last couple of months, these sectors which are key foreign exchange earners in the country have suffered huge losses.  Following immense pressure from the public to switch back to normal, the government has been forced to draft health protocols that must be observed by operators in this sector.

After consulting widely and largely, the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, in a press statement seen by Urbwise today, has announced that it has drafted COVID-19 tourism and Travel health and safety protocols. The draft of the proposal seeks to achieve four main objectives.

  1.  Inculcate institutional operations and staff preparedness to ensure service provision meets World Health organization guidelines and Kenya’s Ministry of Health measures aimed at preventing the spread of the Virus.
  2. Ensure a safe experience for visitors/guests and service providers.
  3. Rebuild trust and confidence hence increase and sustain demand for holiday and investment in the destination.
  4. Implement enabling policies and guidelines thus provide a step by step process of careful reopening and restart of business in the tourism sector.

“At this point, the Ministry would like to inform tourism stakeholders and the general public that the draft protocols are undergoing view of finalising the input as provided by the taskforce and stakeholders. The final protocol for the sector will be officially unveiled on 1st July 2020,” it read in part.

This comes as good news to businesses in this sector as they will be able to roar back into life although under strict safety and health guidelines.