Northern Kenya has been identified as the most strategic area for expansion of the country’s tourism sector, a senior official has said.
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) assistant director in charge of Eastern region Daniel Onsombe said the Government planned to convert Isiolo Town into the country’s main tourism and industrial hub.
Mr Onsombe was speaking in Isiolo Monday at the launch of a human-wildlife conflict resolution committee which is charged with conservation of wildlife to boost tourism in the area.
He said the committee would also be charged with identifying human/wildlife conflict hot spots and facilitating redress for people attacked by wildlife.
He said the Government was keen to put the necessary infrastructure in place in northern Kenya to stimulate economic growth and tap the region’s vast tourism potential.Mr Onsombe urged locals to position themselves for the expected development that will transform Isiolo Town into a resort city in four years.
Noting that tourism accounted for 12 per cent of the country’s GDP, he said tapping the northern region could double the foreign exchange generated by the sector annually by increasing the number of tourists coming into the country.
Isiolo district officer Geoffrey Mayama said the Ministry for the Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands was created to stimulate the socio-economic development of the people in the region.
He said a five-year development plan that would transform Isiolo from a transit centre into an industrial hub was being implemented.
The plan involved the tarmacking of the Isiolo-Moyale road, building of a modern slaughterhouse and airport and the installation of electricity.
