Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
climate change on the mountain's tourism are unclear. The main issue is:
Could climate change affect Mount Kenya's ecosystem so irreversibly that
mountain tourism could become unsustainable? This is the issue addressed
in this chapter.
Tourism Development in Kenya
Tourism in Kenya developed before 1930 when international tourists began
arriving in the country in small numbers. Most of these early overseas
visitors to the country were wealthy Europeans and Americans who could
afford the time and resources for leisure recreation (Sindiga 1999, Kamau
1999). The rich wildlife resource was the base on which Kenya's tourism
industry was founded. During this early period, several national parks were
established in different parts of the country such as Nairobi National Park
(1946), Tsavo (1948) and Mt. Kenya National Park (1949). At present, there
are 25 terrestrial national parks, four marine national parks, 22 national
reserves, fi ve marine reserves, one national orphanage and one national
sanctuary. In all, the protected areas cover about 8% of the country's total
land surface and accommodate a wide variety of wildlife species such as the
rare Bongo, Roan Antelope and Giant Forest Hog among others (KWS 2011).
Parallel to the development of wildlife tourism was beach tourism
at Kenya's coast. Almost immediately after the establishment of British
colonial rule in Kenya, the coast began to attract resident Europeans from
upcountry especially European settler farmers. This was the beginning of
domestic tourism in the country. The major attractions for domestic tourists
at Kenya's coast were the three Ss (sea, sun and sand). The three Ss also form
the base for international tourism at the coast even today (Irandu 2004a).
The tourism industry in Kenya has been on upward trend making it
one of the leading foreign exchange earners in the economy besides tea
and horticulture. For instance in 2006, tourism industry recorded upward
growth despite world economic recession. The number of visitor arrivals
reached an all time high of 1.6 million. Foreign exchange earnings from
tourism rose from KES (Kenyan Shillings). 48.9 billion (US$ 489 million)
in 2005 to KES. 56.2 billion (US$ 562 million) in 2006, representing a 15%
increase in earnings (UNWTO 2007, RoK 2007). However, the number of
visitor arrivals declined drastically in 2007 to below one million following
eruption of violence due to election disputes in the country. The tourism
sector has shown a lot of resilience and has recovered quickly after the
election violence. Kenya received close to 1.1 million visitor arrivals in 2010
(RoK 2010). During the same year, foreign exchange earnings from tourism
reached KES 73.68 billion (US$ 736.8 million).
The country continued to rely on her traditional tourism markets of
Europe and North America with the United Kingdom leading with 174,051
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