The Ministry of Tourism has finally finalized the official protocol for the reopening of activities related to the hospitality sector.
"The tourism and travel sector is undoubtedly one of the most affected globally after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic - explains Minister of Tourism Najib Balala, introducing the new Protocol - even in Kenya, since the beginning of the pandemic, the tourism and Wildlife sectors are experiencing an unprecedented health and socio-economic crisis of unimaginable proportions. Global response measures have devastated our industry due to travel restrictions. There is no certainty about defining a term for the COVID-19 emergency, although global efforts to find vaccines and develop guidelines on how to live with the virus have taken hold convincingly. Kenya's tourism industry has developed health and safety tourism and hospitality protocols to mitigate the effects of the disruptions caused by Crown Virus disease on people's businesses and livelihoods. The tourism industry stakeholders have therefore taken responsibility, through the adoption of these protocols, to ensure that Kenya's destination is safe for the tourism business".
The "Magical Kenya Tourism Health and Safety Protocol" covers more or less all sectors of tourism, from resorts to safaris, from sea excursions to sports, from entertainment to children's games.
Among the main points there is the request to all travelers to present in advance their travel history, so not only the country of origin but also those in which they have been since the beginning of the pandemic. This documentation must be submitted together with the medical certificate and the Covid-19 Free certificate.
At the same time, every hotel that will host tourists must have a documented list of emergency contacts, a reporting system and already planned evacuation procedures for any possible health accident that may occur within the facility.
The protocol must be adopted once the hotels have complied with the measures of the Ministry of Health and have received new licenses to operate.  The new rules will be essential to restart one of the sectors that have suffered the greatest economic burden of the pandemic, as almost all hotels and lodges have closed, leaving thousands of workers at home.
"The protocol will guarantee visitors a safe experience - explained Minister of Tourism Najib Balala - but at the same time it will make service providers safe. The main objectives are: to inculcate the institutional operational and personnel preparation to ensure that the provision of services complies with the guidelines of the World Health Organization and the measures of the Ministry of Health of Kenya to prevent the spread of covid-19. Ensure a safe experience for visitors and service providers. Rebuild confidence and thereby increase and sustain demand for holidays and investment in the destination. Implement enabling policies and guidelines, thus providing a step-by-step process of a careful reopening and restarting of activities in the tourism sector".