The newly appointed Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary, Rebecca Miano, has pledged to fast-track strategies aimed at unlocking the immense potential of Kenya’s tourism sector during the official handover from her predecessor, Dr. Alfred Mutua, who takes charge of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection.
Speaking during the official handover ceremony at the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife headquarters in Nairobi, CS Miano pointed out that her journey in the Public Service has been enriched in over 20 months, beginning in the Ministry of East Africa Community and the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), where she noted that upward of 90 per cent of wildlife, which is Kenya’s major tourist attraction, lives in the ASALs.
Additionally, Miano underscored her period at the Ministry of Trade, Investments, and Industry, where she had the opportunity to aid the onboarding of investors to promote Kenya for investments, some of which touched on the hospitality industry.
This, she claims, broadened her view in the tourism sector, which is ranked third but was once the number one foreign exchange earner in Kenya.
Miano maintained that with that little history, she was well prepared to join the Ministry because she understood the terrain very well.
She highlighted seven areas of interest to re-look at and address, including operationalising the upcoming Ronald Ngala Utalii College to unleash its capacity in order to provide world-class training for the hospitality and tourism sectors.
She promised to consult broadly with sector players and have a robust relationship with the private sector to ensure the Ministry is well appraised in this new sector while also addressing the issue of the classification of hospitality facilities to ensure that Kenya aligns with global best practices.
Further, in collaboration with key sector players, the CS promised to seek ways of entrenching a domestic tourism culture and encourage the use of modern technology to rally the tourism industry to not only shore up tourist numbers but also create a memorable experience at Kenya’s diverse attractions.
In addition, as she seeks to finalise a one-stop shop for all the country’s tourism and conservation needs, Miano vowed to make way for thoughtful consultations in dealing with the country’s tourism and wildlife policy so as to serve the emerging trends given the ever-changing taste of tourists and the state’s progress.
The CS also promised to take a keener look at the country’s tourists and conservancies in consultation with other organs of government in the spirit of one government approach.
“I pledge to seek broad consensus with significant others in the sector to ensure that the spirit of the bottom-up economic transformation agenda model as led by the President is upheld in a manner that distributes benefits accruing from tourism and wildlife more evenly throughout Kenya,” she said, further promising to consult broadly with sector players on ways to reduce human-wildlife conflict,” stated Miano.
Further, the CS said that it is the duty of the Ministry to re-tool its method of protecting Kenya’s wildlife and also re-imagine how best to oversee conservation in this day and age of increased awareness on matters of climate change, conservation, and sustainability.
The CS thanked her predecessor for the foundation he has laid in the Ministry and expressed her commitment to build on the same, even as she swore to bring good will, boldness in taking decisions and actions, hard work, good governance, open door policy, and freshness.
Forthwith, Maino vowed to see the completion of the programmes initiated under her predecessor’s tenure and called on her new team to help navigate this new space, saying success only comes by repeating the small efforts every day.
By Michael Omondi
