Modern infrastructures, a new international airport, conference centres and other facilities are needed to compete seriously and effectively in the international tourism industry.
This is the opinion of Kenya's Minister of Tourism Najib Balala, who spoke during the inauguration of the Kenyan branch of Travel Leaders, an association that is particularly connected to the American tourism industry.
"To be competitive we must develop new structures - said Balala - we can not rely only on an airport built in the seventies and still not properly modernized, as the hubs for conferences and meetings are not up to date, especially observing how competing countries are updating their infrastructure to be competitive.
Balala looks with a positive vision to the future of Kenya in terms of foreign attendance, strong of a significant increase in admissions, which will lead the tourism sector to reach the two million admissions in the current year, but at the same time realizes that to increase the turnover that the sector could generate, you have to look at those who have long invested in hospitality.
"Some countries such as Turkey - explains Balala - are no more than two hours away from the same markets we are aiming for and this is why they can attract millions of visitors every year. On average, a flight from Europe to Kenya takes about seven hours and more to get to the hotel. We have to compete globally by improving travel times.
Surely it is the situation that for years has not allowed the development of Malindi and destinations connected to the north coast of Kenya, with many entrepreneurs who do not feel encouraged to invest or improve the existing hotel facilities.
"Kenya is the third largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa and Nigeria - says Balala - The growth rate is faster than the global average of 3.9 percent and that of sub-Saharan Africa which has an average of 3.3 percent. If we move forward at this rate, the number of travellers arriving in Kenya is expected to exceed three million in the next four years.
We hope that this voice raised towards your government will find those who can speed up certain processes underway, such as that of Malindi and that can bring confidence in the entire tourism sector.