In recent days we have received confirmation from the Italian Government that it is willing to allow our compatriots to spend their winter holidays in the warmth of Italy.
Obviously, it's not so much the thought of the employee's tan and the shop assistant's selfie among the corals that softened Minister for Tourism Garavaglia, but the fact that there is a national economy that depends on foreign travel and which, according to the minister himself, has always represented 85% of the turnover for travel agencies and tour operators, compared with 15% for European destinations.
A turnover that starts from the agencies and passes through charter companies, insurance companies and all the steps that regulate and guarantee holidays in long-haul destinations.
The request for government intervention by our Minister of Tourism is based precisely on this and clearly asks that you reopen to tourism in the first instance to all nations that are close to 50% of the population vaccinated and in any case to create "bubbles" covid free in destinations dear to the Italians and economically strategic where there is willingness and organization to make the holidays as safe as possible.
If we wanted to make philosophy that serves no purpose or hunker down on the Aventine of frustrated keyboard good only to complain, we could say that Kenya will always be less virally dangerous than the Greek islands or Formentere this summer, the waterfront of Porto Cesareo or the countryside of Viterbo, breeding ground of high rave party.
The natural bubbles on the beaches of Watamu or in the Tsavo savannah will always win out over the pretty lies of the rulers. But these are sterile words that at best we use for irony.
Instead, there is a real situation to deal with: that of tourism on the Kenyan coast, which for thirty years has been accustomed to numbers that today cannot be reached and that put in crisis not only entrepreneurs, but above all thousands of local workers who depend on hotels, restaurants and the allied industries that mean suppliers of every good associated with the conspicuous presence of foreigners.
Without tourism, the Kenyan coast risks serious subsistence problems for its population, which would add to situations that have already been problematic for some time.
We are not in the habit of crying over spilt coconut milk, but of seeking solutions.
Unfortunately, at a time when the Italian government is finally taking action, there are no equally flattering signals from local institutions.
The Kenyan Ministry of Tourism has known for months and months that the category of tour operators should already have been included in the vaccination priorities, but more than a few luxury lodges in the Maasai Mara and related tour guides, nothing has been done. Counties such as Kilifi that thanks to tourism not only make their citizens and voters breathe, but collect (like the central government) taxes and "cash", are not giving any signals.
The only viable solution in the short term to bring back the tourism "numbers" in Kenya, without having to wait for the very slow vaccination process that currently reports a ridiculous 3% of the immunized and (pending the aired millions of doses J & J) has no more than 1 million vials at home, is to create "bubbles" covid-free to fill at least the hotels this winter.
How to do this?
First of all, as stated, those working in tourism must be vaccinated as soon as possible. Between Mombasa airport and destinations such as Watamu and Malindi at least 10 thousand people.
Create a security channel that requires those who arrive, with a Green Pass of course, to use only transfers organized by facilities that have joined the initiative and that rely on professionals (drivers, guides, etc. ...) with vaccination certificate.
As we read in the papers of our Ministry, the holidays will have to be spent almost exclusively in the structures and in the case of excursions (including safaris) will have to be guaranteed the "health record".
This is the only way to get going again, it's not much we know and nothing will ever be the same again. But complaining, barking and "no everything" will do little good.
Or rather, it may contribute to the extinction of Malindi and Watamu as international tourist destinations.