By Rasna Warah
When Tourism minister Najib Balala made the outrageous suggestion that school holidays in Kenya should coincide with the low tourism season in the country, ostensibly to encourage local residents to sample the country’s many delights, he failed to consider the following facts: one, most tourist hotels in Kenya are out of the financial reach of the majority of Kenyans, half of whom live below the poverty line.
Two, the only people who can afford to take advantage of the low tourism season are those who don’t need an incentive to take a holiday and already have their children in elite schools that follow the British curriculum where the long “summer holiday break” occurs during our winter, which also happens to be the low tourism season.
Three, changing school holidays in Kenya is a huge undertaking involving various stakeholders, including government ministries and education boards, and so cannot be dictated by the whims of a minister; and last, but not least, many upmarket tourist hotels in Kenya would rather not have domestic tourists frequenting their establishments.
It is the latter point that I would like to bring to the minister’s attention. Last week a colleague forwarded to me a website that stated that the African Safari Club, a group that controls five hotels and six safari lodges and camps in Kenya, is finally allowing local residents to stay at the group’s many hotels and lodges after a 40-year ban.
Apparently the change in policy occurred after the recent global economic crisis adversely affected bookings in six of the club’s establishments and when 700 of its employees went on strike after they were not paid their salaries.
The club’s managing director is quoted in a UK-based holiday website stating that beginning next month, the African Safari Club will open its doors to locals so that they can sample the club’s tourist facilities. Apparently, locals weren’t welcome to the club’s many hotels and lodges until now. A few years ago, the boyfriend of a foreign guest was kicked out because he was Kenyan.
It is common knowledge, particularly at the Coast, that non-white Kenyans aren’t exactly welcomed with open arms in our tourist hotels. Hotels like the African Safari Club group fully acknowledge that locals (such as chefs, drivers, cleaners, porters, receptionists, etc.) are essential to the running of the hotels — but not as paying guests.
THE LOCALS ARE NEEDED TO CARRY luggage, clean rooms, drive safari vans, smile at the tourists, serve food, and, quite often, provide sexual services to the foreign tourists, but they are not encouraged to book a room and pay for it, even if they can afford it.
Apparently, sharing hotel facilities with black Africans would upset the foreign tourists and drive them away. If you think I am kidding, take a look at the 2009/10 brochure of the African Safari Club entitled, “Kenya Beaches and Safaris: A Land of Contrasts — Third edition”.
It states: “From the legendary wilderness of Tsavo and the majestic peak of Mount Kilimanjaro to the stunning Savannah of the Maasai Mara, the African Safari Club welcomes you to this glorious country… From the moment you arrive in Kenya, you will be struck by the warmth of the local people who are genuinely happy to receive guests from Britain, perhaps a leftover from bygone days.” (Emphasis mine).
Hello? The first time “guests from Britain” descended on this country, they took over the land, herded locals into reserves and massacred and raped hundreds so they could loot at will. The process was called “colonialism” and the locals weren’t exactly thrilled about it.
If Mr Balala is serious about promoting domestic and international tourism, he must look at how foreign tour companies and hotels are marketing the country. If as a Kenyan I can be denied entry into a local hotel, and if that hotel is not reprimanded or fined for doing so, then we have no right to call ourselves a sovereign state. Our freedom struggle was fought to do away with “Whites Only” signs.
The sad part about colonialism is that it is being perpetuated by those who once colonised. On his first visit to Kenya, for instance, Barack Obama was shocked when the black waiters at the New Stanley Hotel refused to serve him because he was not white enough.
This colonial mentality of seeing Africans only as a source of labour or entertainment has to go. If foreign guests are put off by having to stay in a hotel with too many black or brown faces, then we are better off without them.
rasna.warah@gmail.com
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