Watamu cannot wait for the return of Italian charters and is trying hard to attract Russian tourism.
Despite calls for the reopening of international tourism, made more difficult by the proclamations of the World Health Organisation which continues to advise against intercontinental travel, tour operators and charters from Italy will not move until at least next November.
This is one of the reasons why Watamu (Kilifi North) Member of Parliament Owen Baya, together with hospitality entrepreneurs Pasquale Tiritò (3 resorts in the Jacaranda bay area) and Roberto Lenzi (two resorts in Watamu) met in Nairobi the Russian Ambassador Dmitry Maksimychev to explain to him the tourism and trade opportunities for his nation and his compatriots in Kilifi County and in particular for the destination Watamu and the resorts connected to it, from Tsavo East National Park to Arabuko Sokoke Forest, from the Mida Creek ecosystem to the Sabaki River estuary, to name but a few.
"I discussed with the Russian Ambassador to Kenya on efforts to promote tourism and capture the emerging Russian tourism market in order to revive the declining tourism sector in Kilifi County, especially in the Malindi Jacaranda, Watamu and Kilifi areas," Baya explained on his social profiles, "Good progress has been made. We have agreed on a series of follow-ups to achieve this long-term goal."
Now the entrepreneurs with the best hotel receptivity will organise themselves to host first of all the Ambassador himself, who has promised a visit to Watamu in the near future, then some educationals to promote this part of the Kenyan coast and its services to the tour operators in Moscow.
At the moment we are mainly interested in markets with large numbers of people," explains Pasquale Tiritò, who with his marketing office has conducted an accurate and comprehensive campaign on the Russian market, "who can move directly with charters. There are two important Russian tour operators who also own airlines, for example".
Russian tourism, according to the dossier produced by Tiritò, moves in months of the year that can lengthen the tourist season in Kenya, compared to the classic one, from Christmas to March, made up of Italian and European customers. This has also been seen in recent months in Zanzibar, which still receives charter flights from Eastern European countries and has come to have up to 16 charters a week on the island.