It is a paradoxical situation that Kenya is going through at the moment: on the one hand, the value of its currency is in free fall (the dollar is steadily above 140 and the euro touched 153 shillings yesterday) and on the other, also facilitated by the exchange rate, the great tourist demand for a destination that, considering a 'touch and go' to admire its beauties and enjoy a few days of relaxation, is becoming increasingly attractive. The government, which, with the appointment of the new Central Bank director, Kamau Thugge, is trying to mend the disastrous accounts that see the public debt more than double in the space of a year, is resuming after years (also accomplice to the pandemic) to reconsider tourism as one of the most immediate and concrete sources of cash that can mitigate the phenomenon of inflation, which negatively and often worryingly affects the Kenyans' shopping bag, especially the lower-middle class that had recently proved to be the driving force behind the nation's growth.

If the poor, in fact, are increasingly derelict, but between having 'zero point zero one' and zero there is little difference, those who in the past years had improved their standard of living and bet on their and the country's future, perhaps by buying a property, launching their own business or simply equipping themselves for the first time in their lives with a means of locomotion, are now on the verge of half bankruptcy. On the other hand, the country also needs to make itself competitive and more welcoming in order to meet the demands of travellers who choose it, so as not to risk falling behind other rampant destinations that only a few years ago were not up to the standards of Kenyan offerings.
One example above all is Tanzania, which (apart from Zanzibar) is not only improving its infrastructure, but has also 'cleaned up' its image as a backward and unwelcoming nation to foreigners.

In recent days, Tanzania's Finance Minister, Mwigulu Nchemba, has proposed a tax exemption for airlines travelling to the country, in order to increase passenger traffic and the attractiveness of its attractions internationally.
The high demand for East Africa has also been picked up by the national airline Kenya Airways, which decided yesterday to reopen direct Nairobi-New York flights for the summer, which could return to daily flights as before the Covid era. Apart from American tourists who are looking forward to coming to Kenya for the classic safari in the Masai Mara to witness the great wildebeest migration, there are also requests from many Kenyan nationals or people of Kenyan origin living in the US who are thinking of a holiday in their homeland, taking advantage of the dollar's power against the shilling.

Now is the time to act, then, and bring tourism back to that pedestal of importance that in not so distant times allowed Nairobi and its environs to grow and become a 'hub' not only for holidays, but also for international investment and interest, allowing Kenyans themselves to raise the bar of their own expectations, as well as skills and professionalism.