A season that can already be defined as fabulous for Watamu, even though it's not over yet and despite the fact that the organised tourism and charter flights season ends too soon, ten days before Easter.
Incredible numbers, those of the most popular destination in Kenya, the most desired by Italians and on the rise for other foreign nationalities too. Suffice it to say that the rooms in resorts, hotels and smaller facilities were not enough and that local tourism in the end, unlike in previous years when it had helped to ‘make up the numbers’, opted for other destinations with more availability and more ‘last minute’ deals.
The success of Watamu, as well as regenerating the entire tourism sector, leads to several considerations for the future. We talk about it with Daniele Tiritò, General Manager of Jacaranda Resort.
‘It was an incredible season, which at the very least repeated the already excellent 2023/24 season. On the one hand, this confirmation tells us that we have sown well and that the return of charter flights has stabilised the new trend of Watamu being the most desired destination for Italians in Africa. If the numbers are more or less similar, it is simply because the number of beds and seats on the planes were the same. Neos, the only company to fly directly to Mombasa, did what it could, putting on several flights. Fly Dubai also joined in, but for the requests we had, more planes would have been needed. Even if there probably wouldn't have been enough beds’.
For Tiritò this success is an invitation to invest in the ‘pearl of the Indian Ocean’, because the premises for an increase are alive and real.
‘First of all, it's a real shame that the bulk of the season has to end on 9th April, with the last Neos charter, and not after Easter, because there is definitely demand. We at Jacaranda will at least equal or even exceed last year's attendance, but we could have done even better and above all we have achieved this result by differentiating and raising the level of our offer, no more ‘all-inclusive’ (unless expressly requested) and consequently increasing the quality and personalisation of our services.
This success, which is shared with the other establishments of the large Jacaranda family, namely Alpitour's Jumbo and Bravo Club, will lead us to add another 14 rooms to our resort, as well as another swimming pool.
But I know for sure that other resorts are also thinking of expanding and renovating, because there is already a great demand for next season, and I can also see interest from new investors and companies that want to focus on Watamu. With more rooms and more flights, we will be at the absolute top’.
Now Tiritò hopes that the Kenyan institutions will also do their part, making holidays on the Kenyan coast even more appealing and comfortable.
‘The hope and what we are working towards, and with us for example Roberto Lenzi of 7 Island and Crystal Bay Resort, is the improvement of the infrastructure. Let's think about Mombasa airport which for now remains our certainty for having tourists from Italy here, it would be time to renovate it and make it modern and welcoming at least like the one in Nairobi. If this were to go hand in hand with the arrival of new airlines and perhaps other charters, this would open up scenarios for which sustainable development would also need to be considered in Watamu, because at that point it would really be in everyone's interest, not just the tourism sector’.