Hon. Najib Balala, Minister for Tourism visited Frankfurt city from 8th to 9th May 2008, as part of a Reassurance trip on Kenyan tourism that covered Germany, Sweden, Italy and the United Kingdom. The Minister was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary in his Ministry, Mrs. Rebecca Nabutola, Dr. Ong’ong’a Achieng, Managing Director, Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) and officers from the KTB and the Ministry of Tourism. Hon. Balala addressed Tour Operators AND Airline and hotel owners and held interviews with a leading German television news channel NTV, as well as lesading travel and trade magazines.

The Minister in his address briefed the participants on the political situation in the country which had now normalised. He explained that the purpose of his trip was to reassure the tourism fraternity and appealed to Germans and the citizens of other countries that he visited to travel to Kenya. He explained that his Ministry was ready to address any issues that they may have and that an Inter-Ministerial Committee to address problems of security and infrastructure had been formed.

The tourism market representatives raised the following issues: Beach boys, prostitution, work permits and taxes.

The Minister also spoke of increasing innovation in Kenya’s tourism products, by improving on existing ones and developing new ones. He also revealed that the Treasury had given requisite funds for marketing the country and appealed to the participants to suggest to the KTB and the Kenya Market Development Representative Travelmarketing Romberg, the best ways in which the funds could be utilised.

On visas, the Minister explained that they were a major source of revenue for the government and his Ministry would need to consult other Ministries before the decision on a waiver or reduction of the fees could be made.

The Minister also held lengthy discussions with Thomas Cook, a leading Travel Company involved in Kenya for many years. The Minister thanked Thomas Cook for not having stopped flights to Kenya during the crisis.