On World Tourism Day, September 27, Kenya has turned its focus to developing the country’s western tourism circuit – a collection of attractions, parks, reserves and cultural sites across 10 counties. The circuit encompasses the counties of Kisumu (hosting the nation’s World Tourism Day celebrations), Bungoma, Busia, Homa Bay, Kakamega, Migori, Nyamira, Siaya, Trans Nzoia and Vihiga.

Speaking at Ndere Island National Park in Kisumu, State Department for Tourism Principal Secretary John Ololtuaa said all tourist sites in the region have been mapped out, laying the foundations for development, packaging and aggressive marketing.

The Ministry of Wildlife and Tourism, in collaboration with Kenya Tourism Board, will focus on Lake Victoria, water sports, islands, historical sites, cultural diversity and wildlife to boost tourist numbers.

Ololtuaa said top of the agenda is developing the necessary auxiliary infrastructure to ensure that sites are accessible and attractive to local and international tourists.

“We have adopted a one-government approach to achieve this. Already there is an inter-ministerial team looking at what each of the government departments and agencies can contribute towards tourism development, promotion and sustainability.”

This will also attract public-private partnerships to catalyse the development of infrastructure including roads, airstrips and hotel facilities, he added.

Ololtuaa said the campaign is aiming to redirect traffic to the area and connect it with other tourism hubs in the country.

“We are looking for ways of connecting the western tourism circuit with Maasai Mara so that tourists coming to see the wildebeest migration can extend their stay to sample Lake Victoria and water sports and visit our islands and other attractions across the region.”

One of the proposals is to build a tar road linking the towns of Awendo to Kilgoris for visitors to easily move from Maasai Mara to the Homa Bay and Kisumu counties.

The campaign is part of the country’s broader strategy to attract five million tourists every year by 2027.

“The numbers are looking good. In 2023, we registered 2.086 million tourists. In the first half of this year, we already hit the one million mark and we are looking forward to meeting our target of 2.5 million by the end of the year,” said Ololtuaa.

Kisumu’s Chief Tourism Officer, Timothy Kajwang, said the county’s winning bid to host World Tourism Day celebrations is a testament to the success of efforts marketing the destination as a tourism hub.

He said Kisumu continues to attract international and national conferences – Africities in 2022 and FESTAC and Afrinet this year – due to deliberate allocation of resources for the marketing of Kisumu as a tourism hub.

Lake Victoria Tourism Association CEO Charles Gatoro called for enhanced private-sector involvement in the development of local tourism with government creating an enabling environment.

“The private sector can help bridge the gap through the development of hotels and accommodation facilities in some of these areas to attract visitors and generate revenue for government.”

Kisumu hosted various activities throughout National Tourism Week leading up to World Tourism Day, including public and private-sector visits to the county’s tourist sites, the launch of the One Tree, One Tourist campaign in Kajulu Forest and the Tourism Excellence Awards.