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Sustainability, Tourism and Africa: A natural link
Thematic proceedings of ATLAS Africa Conferences
Volume 9
Edited by
René van der Duim
Guido Klep
Evangelia Konstantinidou
Wilber Ahebwa
2015 ATLAS (authors)
Association for Tourism and Leisure Education
PO Box 3042
6802 DA Arnhem
The Netherlands
info@atlas-euro.org
ISBN: 978-90-75775-75-4

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Sustainability, tourism and Africa: A natural link
Thematic proceedings of ATLAS Africa Conferences
Volume 9
Contents
Preface 5
List contact details authors 7
Introduction
René van der Duim, Guido Klep and Evangelia Konstantinidou
13
Challenges to sustainable sports tourism development in a non-
metropolitan region in Kenya: A case of Iten township
Joseph Muiruri Njoroge, John Akama and Liza Buyeke
18
The ‘romance’ of mining in light of tourism: a case study of soapstone in
Tabaka, Kisii County, Kenya
John Akama, Liza Buyeke and Joseph Muiruri Njoroge
33
The efficacy of small and medium scale tourism enterprises (SMTEs) as
tools for poverty alleviation: the case of the North-Rift region in Kenya
John Akama, Polycarp Oluoch and Dominic Rotich
44
The benefits of ICT on service delivery within the hospitality industry, a
case study of selected hotels in the coast region
Mbitha Angore and Josphat Belsoy
60
Determinants of expenditure by international tourists, a case study of the
North coastal region of Kenya
Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu, Pius Odunga and Timothy Sulo
72
Gastronomy as a tool for social integration among ethnic communities in
Kenya
Frimar Kiama, Isabella Cheloti-Mapelu and Thomas Bor
83
Relationships between gender representation in the hospitality industry
and tourism entrepreneurial activities in Kenya
Geoffrey Koome, Nehemiah Kiprutto and Judy Kibe
91
Commercial home accommodation potential for rural tourism enterprises
in Uasin Gishu County-Kenya
Jacqueline Korir, Loice Maru, John Korir and Rose Burugu
102

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Political ecology of tourism & livelihood in Zanzibar
Godwin Adiel Lema, Huruma Sigallah, Richard Sambaiga, Vendelin Simon and
Emmanuel Shemaghembe
110
From Davos to Mombasa, Kenya: a position paper on the adoption of the
‘Davos Declaration’ by hotels
Joseph Muiruri Njoroge and Rita Wairimu Nthiga
123
The efficacy of photographs in marketing of sustainable tourism products
Wendy Rop, Walter Masambu, Tabitha Mugo, Vincent Ng’eno
and Rose Burugu
137
Entrepreneurial marketing strategies effects on sustainability of tourism
and hospitality event management ventures in Eldoret Town, Kenya
Jacqueline Cheptepkeny Korir, John Korir Kimeli, James Muchira
and Kamwea, Rita Ndunge Schulz and Geoffrey Amusala
149

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Preface
Tourism plays a significant role in the development of Africa. To promote education and
research in tourism in the African continent, in 2000 Atlas founded an African chapter during
its inaugural conference in Mombasa, Kenya1
. After the conference in Mombasa, Atlas Africa
organized seven other conferences:
- Community tourism: options for the future, Arusha, Tanzania, in 2003.
- Leadership, culture and knowledge: gateway to sustainable tourism in Africa,
Pretoria, South Africa, in 2004.
- Contested landscapes in tourism: culture, conservation and consumption, Mombasa,
Kenya, in 2006.
- Tourism and wealth creation, Kampala, Uganda, in 2007.
- Tourism for Development: Environmental Sustainability, Poverty Reduction and
Empowering Communities, Gaborone, Botswana, in 2009.
- Sustainable tourism and environmental education, a natural link, Kampala, Uganda,
in 2011.
- African Tourism in Global Society: Central or Peripheral?, Kigali, Rwanda, in 2013.
The proceedings of the conferences in 2003, 2004 and 2006 were published in 2007 in three
volumes2
. Proceedings of the conferences of 2007 were published in 2008 in Volume 4 and
53
, and the proceedings of the conferences of 2009 were published in 2010 in Volume 6 and
74
. Volume 8 and this Volume 9 consists of the proceedings of the conference in Kampala5
.
The 2011 Conference was organized jointly with the University of Makerere, Kent State
University, the University of North Texas, the Uganda Wildlife Authority, Nature Uganda, the
Nature Palace Foundation, and the Uganda Tourist Board.
These nine volumes present the current state of the art of predominantly applied research in
tourism in Africa.
--------------------------------------------
1
The papers of this conference have been published in Akama, J. and Sterry, P. (eds) (2002) Cultural
Tourism in Africa: Strategies for the new millennium. Arnhem: ATLAS, and are now also available
online: www.atlas-euro.org.
2
See Kloek, M. and van der Duim, V.R. (2007) Tourism and Nature in Africa (Vol. 1), Local
communities and participation in African tourism (Vol. 2) and Aspects of Tourism in Kenya (Vol. 3).
Arnhem: Atlas.
3
See Kloek, M. and van der Duim V.R. (2008) Tourism, Nature Conservation and wealth creation in
Africa (Vol. 4) and Kloek, M. and van der Duim, V.R. (2008) New Avenues for tourism and wealth
creation in Africa (Vol. 5). Arnhem: Atlas
4
See Zellmer, K., van der Duim, V.R. and Saarinen, J. (2010) Tourism for development:
Environmental sustainability, poverty reduction and empowering communities (Vol. 6) and Saarinen, J.
van der Duim, V.R. and Zellmer, K. , Tourism, tourists and sustainable development in Africa (Vol. 7).
Arnhem: Atlas
5
See also Klep, G., Manyisa Ahebwa, W. and van der Duim V.R. (2013) Tourism Nature and
environmental education in Africa (Vol. 8). Arnhem: Atlas

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Acknowledgments
The board of ATLAS Africa would like to express its gratitude to all the organizers of the
Kampala conferences, and especially to Wilber Ahebwa of Makerere University and to
Leontine Onderwater and Jantien Veldman of the ATLAS Secretariat, for their continued
secretarial support.
This new volume with conference papers provides valuable insights in the development of
tourism in Africa, and again is a source of inspiration for all researchers, practitioners and
lovers of tourism in Africa.
On behalf of the board of ATLAS,
René van der Duim
Wageningen University
The Netherlands

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List contact details authors
Joseph Muiruri Njoroge
Kisii University College
Kisii, Kenya
jmuiruri@poverty-action.org
John Akama
Kisii, Kenya
jsakama@yahoo.com
Liza Buyeke
Kisii, Kenya
lizabuyeke@ymail.com
Polycarp Oluoch
Kisii, Kenya
polycarp@kisiiuniversity.ac.ke
Dominic K. Rotich
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
Mbitha Angore
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
abmbitha@yahoo.com
Josphat S. Belsoy
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
Isabella M. Cheloti-Mapelu
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
immapelu@yahoo.com
Pius O. Odunga
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
E-mail:
Timothy K. Sulo
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya

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Frimar W. Kiama
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
frimarkiama@gmail.com
Thomas Bor
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
thomasbor93@yahoo.com
Geoffrey Koome
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
griungu@g.clemson.edu
Nehemiah Kiprutto
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
Judy Kibe
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
judykibe@yahoo.com
Jacqueline Korir
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
jackiekorir@yahoo.com
Loice Maru
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
lcmaru@yahoo.com
John Korir
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
elkorry@yahoo.com
Rose.W. Burugu
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
rwburugu@yahoo.com
Godwin Adiel Lema
University of Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
godwinlema@gmail.com

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Huruma L.Sigallah
Richard F. Sambaiga
University of Basel
Switzerland
Richard.Sambaiga@unibas.ch
Vendelin Simon
Emmanuel Shemaghembe
Rita Wairimu Nthiga
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
rita.wairimu@gmail.com
Wendy Rop
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
ropwendy@gmail.com
Walter Masambu
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
Tabitha Mugo
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
tamugo@yahoo.com
Vincent Ng’eno
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
James Muchira Kamwea
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
kamjim2@yahoo.com
Rita Ndunge Schulz
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
ritaschulz@ymail.com

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Geoffrey Amusala
Moi University
Eldoret, Kenya
gamusala@yahoo.com

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Introduction
René van der Duim
Guido Klep
Evangelia Konstantinidou
The Netherlands
According to the World Tourism Organization, African tourism has been booming the past
few years from 26 million tourist in 2000 to 56 million in 2014 and this trend is expected to
continue in the next decades (UNWTO, 2015). According to the World Bank (2013) the
number of tourists arriving in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has grown over 300% since 1990,
with 2012 marking a high of 33, 8 million tourists who visited the region. Income generated
from tourism has also climbed: receipts from hotels, tours and other attractions in 2012
amounted to over US$36 billion and directly contributed just over 2,8% to the region’s GDP.
Now one in twenty jobs in SSA is in tourism and women manage more than 50% of
hospitality businesses in SSA (World Bank, 2013).
At the same time, the expansion of tourism in SSA faces a number of obstacles. According to
the World Bank (2013) issues such as land ownership and availability, and how land rights
are transferred, are central to business and tourism development. Limited access to finance
for investors, taxes on tourism investments, low levels of tourism skills among Africa’s
population, lack of security, safety and high crime, limited business relations between private
and public partners, poverty, unemployment, low revenues, insufficient infrastructures of
accommodation and problematic internet connections are some other issues to consider.
The World Bank report examined the potential of African countries to improve and expand
their tourism sector, and suggested that 33 of Sub Saharan Africa’s 48 countries currently
have the capacity for tourism success through establishing strong political support for
developing the industry and attracting increased private investment to help finance and
sustain it. The report mentions successful examples of countries including Kenya, Namibia,
Rwanda, South Africa, and Tanzania amongst others who have simplified their tourism
policies, liberalized air transport and diversified tourism while protecting their communities
and environments, which created a positive investment climate for tourism development
(World Bank, 2013).
Indeed, not only infrastructure and supporting policies, including communities and protecting
the environment are also key prerequisites for tourism development in SSA. As the World
Bank (2013) frames it, Africa has the potential with its cultural and natural resources to
outpace other regions in attracting valuable tourism dollars. Recently Van der Duim, Lamers
and Van Wijk (2014) analyzed the relation between tourism, conservation and development
and showed how in the 1990s a more market-based approach developed in which
partnerships between public, private and civic actors were actively promoted. In their book
they clearly illustrated that all of the institutional arrangements aiming to make use of tourism
for conservation and development in SSA, with the exception of trophy hunting, are relatively
new and set off in the 1990s. They all aim to safeguard large pieces of land for conservation
outside national parks and reserves, have varying development impacts, and increasingly
stretch throughout sub-Saharan Africa. For example, although trophy hunting has existed for
long, it now takes place in 23 countries in Africa, primarily in Southern Africa where the
industry is escalating. According to Lindsey, Roulet, & Romanach (2007) at least 140 million

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hectares is now used for trophy hunting in sub-Saharan Africa, which outstrips the land area
covered by national parks. Trophy hunting also underlies the expansion of private game
reserves in South Africa and conservancies in Namibia. According to Van Hoven (2014), the
number of private game reserves in South Africa increased from a mere 10 in the 1960s and
5000 in 2000, to 11,600 today, covering 22 million hectares or 18% of the land surface.
Trophy hunting also plays an important role in the development of conservancies in Namibia.
In 2012, 79 registered conservancies contributed to the livelihood of one of every four rural
Namibians and covered 16 million hectares. Over 55 joint-venture lodges and community
campsites provide employment, training and social services, as well as generate economic
spin-off activities for people living in the conservancies. The national Namibian CBNRM
program supports a total of 45 community-based organizations, comprising of 123 villages
and a total population of over 283,000 people. The CBNRM experiences in southern Africa
also inspired the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) to develop conservation enterprises in
the domains of tourism, fisheries, livestock and agriculture. Over the past 15 years, AWF has
launched 60 conservation enterprises across the continent of which 35% relates to
agriculture and animal husbandry and 65% to tourism. Together, these enterprises have
generated more than USD 2 million per year for communities around these enterprises
(Elliott & Sumba, 2010).
All these examples illustrate the necessity of employing tourism and conservation hand in
hand. In their article, ‘’Understanding Success Factors for Ensuring Sustainability in
Ecotourism Development in Southern Africa’’, Parker and Khare (2005: 32) therefore suggest
three main factors which can lead to a more profitable outcome for tourism businesses. In
addition to a in-depth understanding of “market principles and business fundamentals, the
entrepreneur must build strong, lasting and equitable partnerships with local communities,
protect the environment, and operate in sometimes adverse national and local conditions. In
evaluating the potential sustainability of an ecotourism project the entrepreneur must
understand the critical success factors for the project (Parker and Khare, 2005: 32). Their
paper provides a methodology of evaluation for the three major categories of critical success
factors: (1) environmental (environmental quality, site boundaries, water and opportunity
costs), (2) community (community partnerships, community definition, community dialogue,
and poverty and social inclusion) and (3) economic (national political environment, adequate
legal systems and security, infrastructure and government policy).
Similarly, the Africa Travel Association (ATA) argues that sustainability is a key element for
promoting tourism. A sustainable environment can support economic growth, development of
local communities and can decrease unemployment by creating new jobs and diminish
poverty in rural and urban areas. Close cooperation between the public and private sector,
partnerships between local citizens, private sector and governments is what African needs
(see: www.africatravelassociation.org/)
This volume
The papers in this volume are based on the ATLAS Africa Conference that was organised in
Kampala, Uganda, from the 6th
to the 8th
of June, 2011. The first paper by Njoroge, Akama
and Buyeke focuses on formal and non-formal small and medium size tourism
accommodation facilities in the Iten region that is famous for sports training highlighting
major challenges attributed to the lack of strategic planning approaches and coordinated
efforts among stakeholders. Most governments have focused only on metropolitan regions

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neglecting the non-metropolitan regions despite their potential and possible contribution to
the economy.
They argue that the accommodation sector plays a great role in the tourism industry by not
only providing catering for tourist hospitality needs but also as a source of revenue for
government. The increase in demand for the accommodation sector has led to the
development of accommodation facilities, especially in the regions that are strategic to
tourism demand. The paper finally suggests that there is need for sustainable approaches to
develop tourism activities that occur in non-metropolitan regions in order to promote local
livelihood, conserve the environment and to ensure long term economic benefits of sports
related travel in the region.
In the second article Akama, Buyeke and Njoroge discuss soapstone mining in Kenya.
Soapstone mining in Kenya is, especially in the Kisii region, historical and its exploitation has
been conducted from time immemorial. Their paper therefore looks at the links between
soapstone mining in Kisii and tourism with a view of enhancing the earnings of the mines
from tourism. A major challenge for the soapstone mining area to attract tourists was the
absence of a centralized museum for all the artefacts. It was also observed that the earnings
from soapstone were low because of middlemen who bought arts from the locals at low costs
and sold them to tourists and made much of the profits. Finally the tourists indicated
harassments, high prices, lack of accommodation facilities and poor quality services when
they visited areas with soapstone mining activities, and thus they were discouraged. This
study therefore demonstrates low linkages between tourism and soapstone mining, which
limits full exploitation of the soapstone and low revenue from tourism. The authors
recommend enactment of mining policy to protect the locals and enhance maximum
participation of the tourists as possible partners in the soapstone mining industry.
The third paper by Akama, Oluoch and Rotich overviews the vital importance of small scale
tourism enterprises (SMTEs) in the alleviation of poverty in poor communities, particularly in
resource scarce Third World countries. At the initial stages of tourism development in an
emerging destination such as the North-Rift region of Kenya, it is the SMTEs that often
support micro-scale tourism activities before major multinational investors gain interest and
confidence in the area to put up major tourism and hospitality facilities and infrastructure.
Moreover, it is these enterprises that can be said to support pro-poor tourism initiatives since
to a large extent these forms of micro-scale business initiatives are quite often owned and
managed by community members. The authors argue that the role of tourism SMEs in
poverty reduction should not be looked at in isolation from other existing socio-economic
initiatives such as micro-scale agricultural production, bee keeping and animal husbandry.
This is due to the fact that it is a mosaic of such grassroots initiatives that can promote
sustainable community socio-economic development and overall community empowerment.
It is particularly suggested that appropriate planning, policy and management initiatives
should be put in place by both government and private entities in collaboration with local
communities with an aim of integrating tourism SMEs with other forms of local socio-
economic initiatives that are in line with the Millennium Development Goals.
Angore and Belsoy examine the benefits of Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) on service delivery in the hospitality industry. ICT not only speeds up the services
being provided but also ensures that guests are satisfied and can therefore bring about
repeat purchases. Various hotels in Mombasa and the Coast were selected for this study.

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The results indicate that there was indeed utilization of information and communication
technology in the hospitality industry. Overall the findings suggest that the hotels have
focused on employing technologies that improve productivity and enhance revenue, however
it has not given strategic priorities to technologies designed to improve guest services. The
authors suggest that to enhance competitive advantage, managers will need to incorporate
more guest-service technologies within their key offerings to customers or be left behind.
In their paper, Cheloti-Mapelu, Odunga and Sulo establish determinants of expenditures by
international tourists in the North coast of Kenya. The aim of the study is to find out the
aspects that played a role in determining the amount of money a tourist spend while on
holiday. To guide the study, there are three objectives; to establish the demographic profile
of international tourists visiting the Kenyan coast, to find out the expenditure levels of
international tourists visiting the Kenyan coast, and to establish factors which influenced
tourist expenditure. A multiple regression model was developed in order to establish factors
that greatly influenced the expenditure patterns and levels of international tourists. According
to the multiple regression model for international tourists, expenditure was increased by
factors such as nationality, marital status, age, level of education, occupation, number of
previous visits and the net monthly income. Length of stay had a negative impact on
expenditure. In this regard expenditure levels of tourists was enhanced by nationality where
European tourists were the highest spenders, marital status with those who were married
spending more, age with those above forty spending more, by the level of education where
those with university level education were able to spend more, by occupation where the
higher the individual income the more they were able to spend, by the number of previous
visits where repeat visitors spend more and by the net monthly income where the higher the
income the more the tourists were willing to pay. In conclusion, sustainability of tourism in the
northern coast according to tourist enterprises and members of the local community was
determined by the ability of tourists to spend more within the host community and therefore
improving livelihoods of the locals.
The purpose of the study by Kiama, Cheloti-Mapelu and Bor is to find out the influence of
traditional food on social integration among ethnic communities in selected cultural theme
nights, in Nairobi, Kenya. Food embodies culture and has a major role in bringing people
together as a model of reconciliation through acceptance of each other’s traditional food.
This could promote cohesion and integration rather than ethnic rivalry that is often exhibited
among ethnic groups in Kenya. The target population entailed four ethnically selected
cultural theme nights in Nairobi; Kikuyu theme night, Kalenjin theme night, Luo theme night
and Luhya theme night. Social integration was found to significantly correlate to traditional
food acceptance. However, traditional food culture did not significantly correlate to social
integration, which meant that culture did not hinder integration. The model was able to
explain 58% of the variation in the dependent variable where the value of R2
(R square) was
0.575. The study therefore shows that social integration can be fostered in Kenya by
promoting inter-ethnic cultural theme nights, festivals, food demonstrations and even forming
a national cuisine.
The seventh paper by Koome, Kiprutto and Kibe examines the level of male and female
employment in the hospitality industry in particular 5-star hotels. The purpose is to assess
whether there is any significant difference between the number of male and female
employees working in the hospitality industry. Because tourism is a means of employment for
Kenyan citizens, it is vital to evaluate the participation by both males and females especially

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with the avocation of women globally to participate in formal employment among other
economic activities. Gender was found to have a significant relationship to the potential of
initiating entrepreneurial activities especially in the tourism sector. The authors conclude that
employment in the hospitality industry is unbalanced with regards to gender. This shows that
despite the strides made for the push towards women in the workplace and entrepreneurial
activities there are still disparities in their representation giving room for better policies and
funding for women’s groups.
The study of Korir, Maru, Korir and Burugu specifically answers three objectives: first, it aims
to establish the extent to which commercial home accommodation could contribute to growth
of rural tourism enterprises. Secondly it examines the acceptability of potential entrepreneurs
in providing commercial accommodation services. Third, the study explores potential
challenges that can be faced by entrepreneurs in the provision of commercial home
accommodation. The results reveal that entrepreneurs opined that home accommodation
can be instrumental in development of rural tourism. The cost of investment seems relatively
low and the enterprise seems not to put great demands on the entrepreneur. However, it was
clear that entrepreneurs are reluctant to embrace it for fear of exposing their families to
external influences and deprival of privacy. The findings also reveal that entrepreneurs are
willing to meet the challenge for economic gains. The findings from this study may be
beneficial to entrepreneurs in Uasin Gishu County in that, entrepreneurs can exploit the
opportunity while the county can benefit from improved standards of living and resultant
increased revenue from taxes.
In their paper, Lema, Sigallah, Sambaiga, Simon and Shemaghembe provide a critical review
of literature and fieldwork findings on the nature of tourism and how it influences the
livelihood of the local communities in Zanzibar. Zanzibar has recorded a significant growth in
tourism development. Since the 1990s large tourist resort hotels have been built on the
island. The dominant discourse, tactically claim that tourism development has significant
impact on improving and sustaining people’s livelihood through, employment opportunities
and improved wellbeing. The paper argues that the expansion and growth of the tourism
industry does not create benefits to the poor. Although, there are potentials for tourism to
contribute to poverty-alleviation, sustainable tourism in Zanzibar remains naught unless there
is transformation of the dominant thinking among political and economic elites who currently
consider tourism to be pro-poor while it is not.
The paper of Njoroge and Nthiga seeks to evaluate the adoption of the ‘Davos Declaration’
among selected Mombasa hotels in terms of water, energy and waste management. The
second international conference on climate change and tourism, held in Davos, Switzerland,
2007, provided guidelines for hotels in relation to water, energy and waste management as
areas by which hotels can contribute to the reduction of their contribution to climate change.
The impacts of climate change have been identified as a major challenge in the achievement
of sustainable development especially for developing countries like Kenya. Although the
tourism and travel industry is not a major contributor to the causes of climate change, there
has been a wide acknowledgement that there is a need for long term strategies for the
industry players to reduce their contribution to climate change in line with other industries.
Results of the study indicate that despite wide knowledge among hoteliers on the impacts of
climate change and the role hotels can play in its mitigation, most hoteliers are slow in
adopting the mitigation measures.

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Rop, Masambu, Mugo, Ng’eno and Burugu study the efficacy of photographs in marketing
sustainable tourism products. Good photography is the basis for an effective marketing and
promotional tool in any tourism organization, to show and ‘tangibilise’ to your customers what
you as a business have to offer. Website visitors want to be wowed by what they see and will
quickly move on if they’re not immediately “wowed” by your photos. The authors go on to
explain the relationship between photographs and tourism, and how tourists like ‘to own’ the
places they visit through photographs. As many respondents of the study indicate they have
photo albums of the places they have visited, tourists need photographs for different
purposes and situations. Photos also influenced tourists’ decisions on which places to visit.
The paper concludes that all indicators in this study show that photography as a tourist
practice carries an important attribute in terms of marketing the sustainable tourism product.
The final paper by Korir, Kimeli, Kamwea, Schulz and Amusala explores the effects of
entrepreneurial marketing strategies on sustainability of tourism and hospitality event
management ventures within Eldoret Town, Kenya. Marketing assist entrepreneurs achieve
their business plans, goals and objectives by providing customers with tailored solutions,
thus enhancing customer satisfaction. Marketing strategies select a target market and
develop a marketing mix to satisfy a market’s needs hence, the choice of strategies
employed can determine the sustainability of an enterprise. Their study answers three
specific objectives. Firstly, it establishes the extent to which unethical marketing strategies
affect sustainability of tourism and hospitality event management ventures. Secondly it
investigates the effects of pricing strategies on sustainability of tourism and hospitality event
management ventures. Lastly, it examines how growth as a strategy affects sustainability of
tourism and hospitality event management ventures. Findings reveal that the marketing
strategies used by entrepreneurs such as lowering prices for products and services and
discrediting competitors were detrimental to the growth and survival of the ventures.
Consequently, as entrepreneurs engaged in cut-throat competition, they failed to maximize
profits and return on investment was not realized as they continued to play undercutting
tactics thus, resulting to unsustainability of ventures.
References
Elliott, J. & Sumba, D. (2010). Conservation enterprise – What works, where and for whom? London:
International Institute for Environment and Development.
Lindsey, P.A., Roulet, P.A. & Romanach, S.S, (2007) Economic and conservation significance of the
trophy hunting industry in sub-Saharan Africa. Biological Conservation 134 (4): 455–469.
Parker, S., & Khare, A. (2005). Understanding success factors for ensuring sustainability in ecotourism
development in southern Africa. Journal of Ecotourism, 4(1), 32-46.
UNWTO: http://media.unwto.org/press-release/2015-02-03/investour-2015-africa-needs-stronger-
brand
Van der Duim, Lamers and Van Wijk (2014) Institutional arrangements for conservation and tourism in
eastern and southern Africa: a dynamic perspective. Dordrecht: Springer.
Van Hoven, W. (2014) Private game reserves in Southern Africa. In: Van der Duim, Lamers and Van
Wijk (2014) Institutional arrangements for conservation and tourism in eastern and southern Africa: a
dynamic perspective. Dordrecht: Springer.

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World Bank (2013) Tourism in Africa: Harnessing Tourism for Improved Growth and Livelihoods.
Washington: World Bank.

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Challenges to sustainable sports tourism development in a
non-metropolitan region in Kenya: A case of Iten township
John Akama
Liza Buyeke
Kenya
Introduction
Sports related Travel traced to 776 BC Olympics (Baker 1982; Davies 1997 and De knop
1999). According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (2010), tourism has
been one of the major contributors to the global economy and employment. In 2008 World
Travel and Tourism contributed to approximately USD 5,890 billion and a 9.9% Gross
Domestic Product which is expected to rise to 10.5% in 2018 (UNWTO, 2008). One
important form of tourism contributing to this growth is sports tourism. Recently the
conference on sports tourism convened by the UNWTO acknowledged the contribution of
sports related travel and tourism estimated at USD 600 billion
(www.worldsportsdestinationexpo.com).
A more important role that tourism plays is its contribution towards GDP in most developing
economies. UNWTO estimates that tourism accounts for about 45% of tourism exports
among least developing countries (UNWTO, 2010).
In Kenya, tourism is a key economic sector and a major contributor to Kenya’s Gross
Domestic Product (12.6%) and represents 14.7% of foreign exchange earnings (Kenya
Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis, 2009). A large part of Kenya’s tourism
product revolves around Safari tours as Kenya boosts for its great National Parks and Game
Safaris. Among the least exploited is sports tourism, despite its great potential.
Similarly, the sports sector has a major economic impact to Kenya’s economy, contributing to
both the economy and providing employment to hundreds of Kenyans. Moreover, sports, and
professional runners especially, occupy a central place in Kenya’s culture and identity based
on their achievements in medium and long distance running. It is therefore not surprising that
both active and aspiring athletics are now trooping Kenya to train with the ‘‘champions’’.
Historically, sports in Kenya have experienced major setbacks due to poor management of
clubs and sporting associations, including local football. However, other better managed
sports have continued to flourish both locally and abroad, in athletics especially.
Background
Iten and its environs is the home town for most of Kenya’s legendary medium and long
distance runners. The city hosts one of the accredited International Association of Athletics
Federations (IAAF) High Altitude Training Centre. The High Altitude Training Centre is
located 30km East of Eldoret town in a non-metropolitan town of Iten, which has been a
famous spot for both local and international runners. This study focuses on problems linked

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19
to the lack of strategic tourism planning and development. Noticeably is the growth of small-
medium sized accommodations facilities in the Iten municipality and its surrounding areas
whose operations do not formally contribute to national tourism growth or development. Such
facilities cannot be relied upon to bridge the demand and supply gap for accommodation in
the area. Camps range from informal camps to formal camps sponsored by major Athletics
sponsors including PUMA, FILA, and others. Furthermore a lack of coordinated efforts
between and among stakeholders is also noticeable. The ministry of Sports and the IAAF
have championed in promoting ITEN as one of the best high altitude training regions,
however the ministry of tourism has shown little interest of strategically developing the
region. Moreover there is a lack of appropriate enterprise data concerning sports camps and
accommodation facilities. On the other hand the region hosts a number of sponsored events
aimed at recruiting professional athletes. Such events bring together athletes’ managers both
local and from abroad, sponsor teams, Athletics organizations, teams and individuals. While
these events provide athletes with an opportunity to run for some of the best clubs, the
social-economic and cultural values of such organised events to the Iten community are not
yet evaluated. While sports business continues to thrive, local operators are faced with a
number of challenges related to development of quality facilities to meet the growing demand
for their services.
The region is faced with problems linked to the lack of sustainable strategic sports tourism
planning and development. Noticeably is the growth of small-medium sized accommodations
facilities in the Iten municipality and its surrounding areas whose operations do not formally
contribute to regional tourism growth and development. Such facilities, both formal and
informal, cannot be relied upon to bridge the demand and supply gap for accommodation in
the area. The location of Iten town also presents an environmental challenge. The town is
located at the edge of the escarpment where most operators prefer development along the
edge which provides beautiful scenery of the rift valley. A lack of proper land use planning
presents the risk of uncontrolled development and serious damage to the natural and cultural
environment.
With limited strategy and policy intervention among stakeholders the entrepreneurs cannot
realise the potential of their businesses.
Sports tourism
An earlier definition for sports tourism was captured as travelling for non-commercial reasons
to participate or observe sporting activities away front the home range (Hall, 1992). A latter
definition defines sports tourism as all forms of active and passive involvement in sporting
activity, participated in casually or in an organised way for non-commercial or
business/commercial reason that necessitates travel away from home and work locality
(Standeven and De Knop, 1999). In these two definitions it is clear that the motivation behind
such travels are sports related and may be to actively ‘participate’ or ‘observe’ a sporting
activity. See table 1 below for further definitions.

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20
Dimension Definition and source
Sports tourism Travel for non-commercial reasons to participate or observe sporting activities
away from the home range (Hall, 1992a: 194)
An expression of a pattern of behaviour of people during certain periods of
leisure time – such as vacation time, which is done partly in specially attractive
natural settings and partly in artificial sports and physical recreation facilities in
the outdoors (Ruskin, 1987: 26)
Holiday involving sporting, activity either as spectator or participant (weed and
Bull. 1997b: b)
Leisure-based travel that takes individuals temporarily outside of their home
communities to participate in physical activities, to watch physical activities or to
venerate attractions associated with physical activity (Gibson, 1998:5)
All forms of active and passive involvement in sporting activity, participated in
casually or in an organised way for commercial or business/commercial
reasons, that necessitates travel away from home and work locality (Standeven
and De Knop, 1999:12)
Sport tourist A temporary visitor staying at least 24h in the event area and whose primary
purpose is to participate in a sports event with the area being a secondary
attraction (Nogawa et al., 1996:46)
Individuals and/or groups of people who actively or passively participate in
competitive or recreational sport, while travelling to and/or stay in places outside
their usual environment (sports as a primary motivation to travel) (Gammon and
Robinson, 1997)
Tourism Sport Person travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment and
participating in, actively or passively, a competitive or recreational sports as a
secondary activity (Gammon and Robinson, 1997)
Source: Tom Hinch and James Higham (2001)
Tourists are drawn to a destination by attractions. Highen and Hinch (2003) cite sports as an
attraction for cultural tourists. In Leiper’s popularly cited framework for defining tourist
attractions, three factors considered as ‘elements’ include: (a) the ‘human element’ (tourist),
‘central element’ (nucleus) and (c) ‘Informative element’ (markers), (Leiper 1990). This
framework can be used to understand sports as an attraction. The above elements can be
interpreted in this case as: the tourist being people travelling as participants, spectators,
officials, media and others; informative element as all marketing activities through media
whose main aim is to draw the human element to a destination and the nucleus or the central
element. An attraction comes into existence when above elements come together (ibid).
Sports and tourism planning, policy and cross sectional linkage
One of the means that most governments have done to promote rural economies is through
tourism (Luloff, 1994). But, in order for any tourism destination to gain maximum benefits and
minimise negative impacts at the destination it must be well planned. It is also vital to
integrate sporting activities with other tourism products at the destination so that the sporting
activity can contribute to the overall tourism development (Chalip, 2001) as the existence of
sports tourists at the destination not necessarily deliver economic gain to the host community
(Weed, 2008).
Although tourism studies are currently well established as a field of research, development of
tourism policy process remains limited in research (Weed, 2008). However some

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21
researchers have contributed exceptionally in the area of policy leisure policy process
including Henry (1993); Houlihan (1991, 1997) and Hall (1994), but their work is limited on
cross sectional liaison (Weed, 2008). Sports and tourism have been considered as different
spheres even in events where sports have attracted sports enthusiasts in a given destination.
This notion is not only limited to practice but also in literature where researches on sports
and tourism have existed as parallel fields of research. It is inevitable that more benefits can
be gained by linking the two spheres of research as indicated in literature (Redman, 1991;
Jackson and Glyptis, 1992; Bramwell, 1997). While there are a few incidences where the two
sectors have worked together in promoting sports tourism such arrangements has existed in
ad hoc (Weed, 2008). Weed’s (1998) earlier work suggests that linking the two sectors
depends on factors that include: ‘ideology’, ‘government policy’, ‘organizational structure’,
‘organizational culture’ and ‘key staff’.
Methodology
In order to investigate the challenges faced by the entrepreneurs a survey was performed.
First a focus group was used to brainstorm some of the challenges faced by local
entrepreneurs. A list of those challenges was made and used for the survey. A total of 150
questionnaires were issued and 60 filled questionnaires were returned, representing 40% of
the total questionnaires issued. Data was collected, coded, and analysed with SPSS and
Excel. A follow up was also done by interviewing government officials on emerging themes.
Officials from three authorities were interviewed, including municipality officials, officials from
the ministries of sports and from the regional tourist office. Descriptive statistics was chosen
to give an overview of some of the challenges that entrepreneurs face in the region in light of
overall regional sports tourism development.
The geographical area in tourism context
Eldoret is a western Kenya city in the rift valley province. It is the 5th
largest and the fastest
growing city. Eldoret and its environs is the home town for numerous legendary and current
outstanding Kenyan professional runners like Kipchoge Keino. The major economic activity
in the region is agriculture. It is also an important rout for travellers wishing to experience
western Kenya tourist attractions. The wider Eldoret is blessed with both natural and cultural
attractions including Kakamega forest, Mt Elgon National Park, Kerio Valley National
Reserve and a number of viewpoints for travellers wishing to view the Great Rift Valley from
the Highlands. Also within its proximity is the famous hot springs of Lake Bogoria, Lake
Baringo and Lake Victoria in the far west.
One important region for Kenya’s athletics in the wider Eldoret region is Iten town. Iten town
is a non-metropolitan town that hosts one of the accredited International Association of
Athletics Federations (IAAF) High Altitude Training Centre. It has been a famous spot for
both local and international runners wishing to train in a high altitude region and has
continued to attract athletes from all over the world.

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Figure 1: Iten region location
Findings
A total of 63 accommodation owners participated in the survey. They included guest and
rental houses, lodging properties and sports camps. Most popular were the rental houses
(68%), which they ranged from a single room house to a three bedroom house. See table 2
and figure 2.
Table 2: Accommodation facilities by type
Types of accommodation No. Percentage
Star rated hotels 1 2%
Guest houses 3 5%
Lodgings 12 19%
Rental properties 43 68%
Camps 4 6%
Total 63 100%

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Figure 2: Accommodation facilities by type
This research report highlights some of the issues that entrepreneurs considered as a
challenge in the region. The majority (90%) felt that a lack of national sports policy has
limited the region in benefitting from sports tourism, while 77% felt that the lack of planning
limited sports tourism development in the region.
On the other hand issues of coordination were raised. The majority (87%) felt lack of
coordinated efforts among players including the ministries of sports and tourism as a factor
that limits development of sports tourism in the region.
At the operational level, the majority (73%) of entrepreneurs felt that their land had been
‘invaded’ by rich westerners. This has led to land (value) inflation as believed by 65% of the
respondents. Access to capital was also an issue that has limited entrepreneurs wishing to
expand their businesses.
The majority of local entrepreneurs (90%) felt that the government and the local authorities
have neglected the region in terms of promoting investments while 77% of the respondents
felt that the government is doing little to market the region as a sports destination.
Below is a list of issues and their respective levels of percentage count for those issues
raised. See table 3 and figure 3.
2% 5%
19%
68%
6%
Star rated hotels
Guest houses
Lodgings
Rental properties
Camps

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24
Table 3: List of issues raised by entrepreneurs in the region
Challenges
No. of
Valid
Counts Total Percentage
Lack of access to capital to establish quality facilities 35 60 58%
Inflation of land prices 39 60 65%
Limited land for expansion 43 60 72%
Little or no marketing of the destination 46 60 77%
Poor road networks 49 60 82%
Neglection by the government 54 60 90%
Lack of land demarcation for long distance running 38 60 63%
Poor road networks especially when rainy 47 60 78%
Lack of access to gym facilities 54 60 90%
Lack of quality field track 48 60 80%
Tricky sports agents 12 60 20%
‘‘Invasion’’ by the rich westerners actively buying land in Iten leading to
inflation 44 60 73%
Congestion 42 60 70%
Lack of coordinated efforts among players 52 60 87%
Lack of clear policies on athlete agency 48 60 80%
Lack of land demarcation i.e. sporting zones, 32 60 53%
Lack of National policy on sports 54 60 90%
Lack of adequate planning for the municipality 46 60 77%
Figure 3: Issues raised by entrepreneurs in the region
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Lack of access to capital to
establish quality facilities
Limmited land for expansion
Poor road networks
Lack of land demarcation for long
distance running
Lack of access to gym facilities
Tricky sports agents
Congestion
Lack of clear policies on athlete
agency
Lack of National policy on sports
Series1

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25
Attitude towards government authorities’ efforts
This research also sought to highlight entrepreneurs’ attitudes towards the authorities’ efforts
in promoting sports tourism by both national government and the local government.
Respondents were asked to respond on a 5 level likert scale: 1=’Not at all’, 2= ‘To some
extent’, 3= ‘To a moderate extent’, 4= ‘To a great extent’ and 5= ‘To a very great extent’.
When the respondents were asked if they believed that the national government was doing
enough to promote sports tourism, the majority (47%) felt that the government was not doing
anything at all, 27% said ‘To some extent’, 12% said ‘To a moderate extent’, 5% said ‘To a
great extent’, and 4% said ‘To a very great extent’. See table 4 and figure 4 for the graphical
representation.
Table 4: Entrepreneurs’ attitude towards the government
Figure 4: Entrepreneurs’ attitude towards the government
When the respondents were asked if they believed that the ministry of sports was doing
enough to promote sports tourism in the region, the majority (53%) felt that the ministry was
not doing anything at all, 27% said ‘To some extent’, 10% said ‘To a moderate extent’, 5%
To what extent Do you think the government is doing enought to promote sports
tourism?
28 46.7 46.7 46.7
16 26.7 26.7 73.3
7 11.7 11.7 85.0
5 8.3 8.3 93.3
4 6.7 6.7 100.0
60 100.0 100.0
Not at all
To some extent
To a Moderate extent
To a great extent
To a v ery great extent
Total
Valid
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulativ e
Percent

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26
said ‘To a great extent’, and 5% said ‘To a very great extent’. The attitudes towards the
ministry of sports and the national government were similar in such a way that in both
instances the majority believed that both institutions were not doing anything at all to promote
sports tourism in the region. See table 5 and figure 5 for the graphical presentation.
Table 5: Entrepreneurs’ attitude towards the ministry of sports
When the respondents were asked if they believed that the ministry of tourism was doing
not doing anything at all, 10% said ‘To some extent’, 3% said ‘To a moderate extent’, 3%
said ‘To a great extent’, and 3% said ‘To a very great extent’. Respondents also felt that the
role for promoting sports related travel was vested in the ministry of tourism as believed by
the majority (90%) of the respondents. See table 6 and figure 6.
To what extent Do you think the ministry of sports is doing enough to promote sports in
the region?
32 53.3 53.3 53.3
16 26.7 26.7 80.0
6 10.0 10.0 90.0
3 5.0 5.0 95.0
3 5.0 5.0 100.0
60 100.0 100.0
Not at all
To some extent
To a great extent
Total
Valid
Cumulativ e
Percent

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27
To what extent do you think the ministry of tourism is doing enough to promote sports
tourism?
Frequency Percent
Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Not at all 48 80.0 80.0 80.0
To some extent 6 10.0 10.0 90.0
To a Moderate extent 2 3.3 3.3 93.3
To a great extent 2 3.3 3.3 96.7
To a very great extent 2 3.3 3.3 100.0
Total 60 100.0 100.0
When the respondents were asked if they believed that the local government was doing
not doing anything at all, 18 % said ‘To some extent’, 6 % said ‘To a moderate extent’, 0 %
said ‘To a great extent’ and 6% said ‘To a very great extent’. See table 7 and figure. 7.

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28
In general the government and their authorities received very little trust among the
respondents in terms of their commitment towards promoting sports tourism in the region.
The calculated means indicates a very low mean of 2 or less. See table 8.
To what extent Do you think the municipality is doing enough to promote the
municipality as a sporting destination?
41 68.3 68.3 68.3
11 18.3 18.3 86.7
4 6.7 6.7 93.3
4 6.7 6.7 100.0
60 100.0 100.0
Not at all
To some extent
Total
Valid
Cumulativ e
Percent
Statistics
60 60 60 60
0 0 0 0
2.02 1.82 1.40 1.58
Valid
Missing
N
Mean
To what
extent Do you
think the
government
is doing
enought to
promote
sports
tourism?
To what extent
Do you think
the ministry of
sports is
doing enough
to promote
sports in the
region?
To what extent
Do you think
the ministry of
tourism is
doing enough
topromote
sports
tourism?
To what
extent Do you
think the
municipality
is doing
enough to
promote the
municipality
as a sporting
destination?

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29
A follow up interview was done and below is a profile of the interviewees.
Table 9: Interviewee profiles
Interviewee Profile
1. District sports officer Has wide knowledge in the development of sports policy in the
region
2. Chairman sports committee Has wide knowledge of sports organization in the region
3. Regional tourism officer Has wide knowledge in region’s tourism planning, development
4. District tourism officer Has wide knowledge on the development of tourism within the
district and has vast information on visits by sports tourists in the
region
5. Councilor Iten town council Has wide knowledge on leadership in the municipality and is well
informed on the local municipality policy
6. Chairman Iten town council Has wide knowledge on the local town planning, policy
development and implementation
Sports tourism development in the region received mixed reactions from officials from
different authorities and they commented on the need for proper planning, policy formulation
and implementation in relation to sports tourism development. This concern is common
among all officials. As one official who has worked for over 15 years in the town puts it:
‘’There are no collaborative efforts among all players in the region. What sports ministry has
been doing is to promote athletics and the athletes but we don’t see the ministry of sports
promoting the region as one of the best training highlands for athletics!’’.
A local council official reiterates that:
‘’There is lack of proper local priority on sports. That’s why we have not realised the
potential of sports tourism. Sports in the region have been growing at fast pace while the
local authorities have failed to match this growth through strategic plans. We see foreigners
coming from abroad to train here and we know it is an opportunity for our entrepreneurs,
especially in the accommodation sector to earn an extra shilling from their business, but we
have not planned on how ‘to plan’? (the town)’’.
A local official from the sports department added to that:
‘’The region has a great potential but we have not set our priorities right. While sports
are a multi-billion dollar sector, ‘are yet’? to develop right policies both at national and local
levels. We have also emphasised a lot on our safari, sea, sun and sand, and forgot other
sectors like sports. We would wish to have collaborations in developing the region and
market it as a sports destination, but we don’t have a working formula on how to link the two
ministries and the local authority’’.
In summary the interview confirmed the lack of strategic planning, proper policy and
collaborative efforts among stakeholders as factors derailing or challenging sports tourism
development in the region. These factors further constrain the local entrepreneurs in terms of
promoting their businesses.

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Discussion and conclusion
This research highlights three critical issues related to sports tourism development in a non-
metropolitan destination. In this report three emerging themes are realised. The first critical
issue to note is the lack of a strategic planning in non-metropolitan regions. In order for any
tourism destination to realise maximum benefits it must be planned adequately. Through
planning negative impacts will also be minimised. The case of Iten region shows it is evident
that planning has been adversely neglected. The development of accommodation facilities
have been done in an ad hoc manner. This has led to the growth of many sub-standard
accommodation facilities that cannot be relied upon to bridge the gap of demand for quality
tourist accommodation facilities. On the other hand, with limited land resources the
authorities have failed to create land for sporting related activities.
The second critical issue is the lack of policies that govern sports development both at the
national and local level. There is a need for the authorities to come up with workable policies
for sports tourism. The sporting ministry may have championed the development of sports in
the region, but who will cater for sports travellers at the destination in terms of
accommodation and other hospitality services? How should the destination be marketed to
the world? Such questions and other related questions can be well addressed through
workable policies.
Finally, there is the issue of cross sectional linkage among players. Understanding the
relationship between tourism and sports policy is important for a sustainable sports tourism
development. Wright (1998, pp.609-610) suggests basic ‘rules of the game’ as desirable
behaviours for policy makers. In this report these players include: the ministry of sports, the
ministry of tourism and the county council authorities. It is evident that the roles played by
these authorities are not clear on who should do what. While s sectional linkage may rip
much more benefit this fact is yet to be explored. Perhaps previous works on the link
between sports and tourism (e.g. Bramwell, 1997; Gibson, 1998; Glyptis; Jackson & Glyptis,
1992) should guide future policy makers. The three players need to work together in the
process of planning, policy formulation and implementation. This will reduce possible friction
and help the region to realise much more benefits.
The above emerging themes confirm neglect of non-metropolitan destinations despite their
potential in tourism product development. Could this mean that it confirms the observations
by Weed (2008) that sports tourism is at cross roads?
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The ‘romance’ of mining in light of tourism: A case study of
soapstone in Tabaka, Kisii County, Kenya
John Akama
Liza Buyeke
Kenya
Introduction
Mineral products are at the core of today’s civilized world that we live in. The manufacturing
sector, the high technology industries and even the resource industries are all dependent, in
one way or the other on the mining industry. According to geological surveys there is
approximately 22 billion tons of soapstone in the Kisii Hills (Kenya Geological Survey, 2008).
Mining the stone is all done by hand with hammers, picks and chisels. The stones are made
into the approximate shapes with machetes, axes and handsaws. The stones are then
carried by manpower out of the mines. Different mines have different colours and densities of
stones. The carver will often go down into the mine himself to find what he needs. In order to
achieve national and industrial development, any country including Kenya requires
processing their minerals.
In the past century, Kenya has become renowned for its soapstone (called Kisii stone in
Africa) carvers (http://www.kisii soapstone/kisiisoapstones/kisiionline.com). Soapstone
carving didn't catch on in Kenya until the 1940s, after Indian labourers arrived to build the
railroad from the Kenyan coast to Uganda (Mong’are, 2006). Soapstone is actually a variety
of talc, a soft mineral of a soapy feel and a greenish, whitish, or greyish colour, usually
occurring in foliated masses. It is a hydrous silicate of magnesia and forms by alteration of
these magnesium-rich rocks and minerals at low temperatures and high pressure. Rocks
consisting mainly of talc are known as steatite or soapstone, and are soft enough to carve
into various shapes. In fact, soapstone is the softest mineral on the Mohs hardness scale
(soapstone being a 1, or the softest and 10 being the hardest, i.e. diamond). Kisii stone
typically exhibits coloration ranging from creamy white to yellow to red to dark grey,
depending on the mineral(s) present in the stone.
The soapstone in Kisii stone is only available in the Tabaka Hills of Western Kenya and the
stone is carved by the community. The stone is mined using hoes, picks, axes, shovels, iron
rods and pangas (which are large knives used to chop the stone into smaller pieces). Most of
the carvers are not professional carvers, but are actually subsistence farmers who carve
mainly in the evening and in the dry season. Soapstone has created some of the most
beautiful images in the world. These images have been continuously sold to the local
communities sometimes at a very low price. Although some of the Kenyan arts including the
chiondo, kikoi and other carvings are instant tourism attraction, this same has not been said
of the soapstone mines in Kisii. This study was therefore designed to explore the unexpected
the ‘romance’ of soapstone mining and tourism in Kisii, Kenya.

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Methodology
Study area
The study was conducted in the Tabaka areas of the Kisii district ( Figure 1). The district
shares common boundaries with Masaba South district to the north, Rongo district to the
west, Trans Mara district to the south and Gucha district to the east. The district covers an
area of 200.2 km2
and is located between latitudes 0°30’ and 0°
58’ South and longitudes
34°42’ and 35°05’ East (Kisii District Development Plan 2008-2012) and has a population of
150,049 people (KNBS, 2010). The area contains numerous soapstone mines that are
exploited by the local community members.
Figure 1: Map of Kenya, identifying the location of the study area. The shaded region
represents the geological survey projections of the area under soapstone mines (Kenya
Geological Survey, 2008)
Study design
This was a cross sectional survey and involved investigations regarding the association
between soapstone mining and tourism.

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Study population
The study population consisted of adults aged above 18 years in the Kisii soapstone mining
industry and tourist visiting Kisii. Currently there are a total of 1200 people working in the
Kisii soapstone mining area and the number of tourists visiting the area is currently estimated
at 200 per year (KTB, 2010)
Sample size and its determination
To determine the sample size, the Yamane (1967) formula was used:
2
1 Ne
N
n


Where:
n = required responses
N = Sample size
e2
= error limit, e = 0.05
Placing the formula for the Kisii District (N = 1200) yielded a sample size of 300 for the local
community members and 133 tourist. In the final analysis, only 221 questionnaires for the
local community members and 71 from the tourists were found useful translating to response
rates of 73.7% and 66.7% for the local community and tourists respectively.
Data collection tools
Structured pre-tested questionnaires and scheduled interviews were the quantitative data
collection tools systematically used to collect primary data from the respondents. These
questionnaires were administered by the two trained enumerators. To counteract the
potential of reporting bias, the questionnaires were developed and validated from previous
studies.
Validity and reliability of the instruments of research instrument
Validity is the degree to which results obtained from the analysis of the data actually
represents the phenomenon under study (Kombo and Tromp, 2006). The instrument was
rated in terms of how effectively it samples significant aspects of the purpose of the study.
The researcher discussed the contents of items in the instrument with the experts and
content adjusted accordingly to reflect true reflections of the situation to expect.
Reliability of a test refers to the ability of that test to consistently yield the same results when
repeated measurements are taken of the same individual under the same conditions (Koul,
1993). To establish the reliability of the questionnaire, the brown prophecy test (described in
Kothari, 2005) was used. A reliability coefficient of 0.87 was obtained and judged to be good.
Data collection procedure
The research assistants were supplied with the needed research materials that were needed
to conduct the study. Deployment of the research assistants followed in readiness to start
collecting samples. At the stone mining sites, each research assistant provided sample

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36
questionnaires and translated the content in Ekegusii to the local who did not understand
English. During the time, interviews were also conducted and responses recorded down.
Data analysis and presentation
After data collection, responses from all questions were crosschecked to facilitate coding and
processing for analysis using Statistical Programme for Social Sciences (SPSS v.13.5)
computer package. Statistical analyses of data were done by inferential and descriptive
statistics. Chi-square (2
) test 


E
EO
2
2
)(

Where: O is the observed and E the expected ranges used respectively in the sample for
analysis. The findings were presented using tables, charts, percentages, tabulations, means,
modes and central tendencies. Tables were used to summarize responses for further
analysis and facilitate comparison. For all statistical analyses, significance was accepted at P
< 0.05.
Results
Background information
Among the local community members, 13.3%, 20.0%, 15.0%, 15.0% and 5.0% were aged;
21-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60 and above 60 respectively. For tourists the age brackets were
10.0%, 13.0%, 23.3%, 21.7%, and 25.0% correspondingly. Age for both the tourists and local
community members differed significantly (P <0.05). For gender, 58.3% and 41.7% were
male and female respectively. The tourists were 50.0% male and 50.0% female. The gender
response differed significantly for local community members (2
= 9.32, df = 2, P = 0.002) but
not among tourists (2
= 0.19, df = 1, P = 0.067). Educational levels of the local community
members showed that 50% had college education, while 78.3% of tourists obtained college
education levels. This differed significantly (P<0.001).
Table 1: Background information of the local communities and tourists visiting the Tabaka
area of Kisii
Variable Local community members
(n = 221)
Tourists
(n = 71)
Age
21-30 13.3 10
31-40 20 13
41-50 25 23.3
51-60 25 21.7
>60 8.3 25
Gender
Male 58.3 53.3
Female 41.7 46.7
Level of education 100 100
Primary 8.3 1.7
Secondary 34.5 16.7
College 50 78.3
University 7.2 3.3

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37
Potential tourist attractions in the Tabaka area of Kisii
There were several potential attractions for tourists in the Tabaka area of Kisii. Some of the
photographs of potential tourists’ attraction artefacts taken in the area are presented in
Figure 2. Several artefacts were available that could potentially attract large spending tourists
to the area.
Figure 2: Potential artefacts attracting tourism in the Tabaka region of Kissi
Role of Tabaka soapstone mining areas in promoting tourism
The role of Tabaka area of Kisii in promoting tourism is shown in Figure 3 below. Six roles of
Tabaka region were identified in enhancing the visits by tourists. These methods included:
increased local marketing (32.1%), tax incentive to the tourists (22.4%), improving of road
network (22.1%) and offering unique product base (20.4%).
Figure 3: Activities undertaken by Tabaka area of Kisii to promote tourism
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
Improve
roads
Provide
security
Unique
product base
Increased
marketing
Provide
funds
Tax
incentives
Activitivities
Percentagefrequency.

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38
Apart from offering tangible economic modes of promoting tourists, they were also using
cultural methods to enhance tourism visits (Figure 4). The major cultural attraction used by
the establishment is songs and dances (50.1%). Many of these songs and dances are
traditional based. Other traditional attractions used, but in lower proportion were dances
alone (25.2%), artifacts (15.1%) and souvenirs (9.6%).
Figure 4: Cultural methods of attracting and promoting tourists in the Tabaka region of Kisii
The tourists were asked how they knew of Tabaka area of Kisii (Figure 5). The most
dominant methods included through normal conversation while visiting the country (25%),
attractive packages by KTB (23%), promotion of the area (16%) and brochure (10%), media
(7%).
Figure 5: Methods used by the tourists to know of Tabaka region, in Kisii
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Songs and
dances
Artefacts Dances Souvenirs
Cultural resources
Percentagefrequency.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Media
Conversation
Brochures
Mediaand
Brochures
Television
Sales
promotion
Attractive
packaging
Marketing modes
Percentagefreqeuncy.

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39
Ratings of the facilities/services to the tourists while in Kisii are shown below ( Figure 6).
Infrastructure, diversity of tourism activities, bird watching and cultural orientation were
ranked low. Prices, friendliness of the locals, swimming and lodging facilities were rated as
good by the majority of the tourists.
Figure 6: Ratings of services offered by Tabaka area of Kisii by tourists
Areas that required urgent improvements are depicted in Figure 7. The majority of the
tourists would prefer improvements on animal diversity, research, poor infrastructure and
transport facilities.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Infrastructure
Prices
Friendlinessofpeople
Varietyoftourismactivities
Birdwarching
Swimming
Cultualorientation
Lodgingfacilities
Services
Percentagefrequencyofrespondents.
Good
Poor

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40
Figure 7: Areas that need to be improved in Tabaka area to attract more tourists.
Discussion
Promotion of the Tabaka area of Kisii as a tourist attraction was achieved by a variety of
methods. The first method involved increased marketing of the artefacts for tourists. The
photographs that were collected contained large collection of artefacts that can form a
potential museum of artefact collection, which can form the basis of tourists viewing. As
suggested by Sindiga (1996), these artefacts are only individualistic because they are not
under one roof, but a common museum can be constructed for all the artefacts to be
collected under one roof; then tourism can be a real business in the region. Marketing was
also achieved through several means including increased marketing strategies, tax incentive
and trying to improve the road networks by the government. These modes of marketing are
traditional modes of promotion that have always proved to be very effective in attracting
visitors from far and wide. Aggressive marketing could also be the best method of marketing
because in as much as it targets the local visitors, international guests are also included.
Aggressive marketing also gives a competitive edge over other rivals. Akama (1997) has
reported that most business ventures that market aggressively tends to have very diverse
visitor bases. That is why the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) has been at the forefront of
marketing Kenya tourism establishments in other non-traditional Kenya tourism markets adds
Sindiga (1996). Promoting tourism within the area was not only limited to marketing artifacts.
The roads were upgraded hence improving the dilapidated infrastructure. This was found to
be particularly important in areas where roads become impassable during rainy seasons.
Such unique roles encouraged visitors to make year round visits to the hotels regardless of
the prevailing weather conditions or seasons. Abele (2003) has also reported that in Kenya
the road network is in poor state and any endeavor to improve them will be rewarded by
sustained tourist visits.
Unique product base and tax incentives to the visitors were the other role played by the
Tabaka area of Kisii to attract more tourists. Diversity of product bases has been reported by
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Lowanimal
diversity
Lackof
research
Poorquality
infrastructure
Lacksporting
facilities
Lackof
spaces
Lowcultural
tourism
Highcostof
goodsand
services
Suggestions .
Percentagefrequency

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41
Achiron and Wilkinson (1999) as one major factor that attracts and retains tourists in most
establishments. Barasa (2005) attest to this by comparing Kenya and Tanzania tourism;
where he concludes that tourists are more likely to visit Kenya than Tanzania because Kenya
offers a wide tourism base of products. This is particularly important because in an area with
diversity, tourists are likely to enjoy the wide range of products without getting bored. These
products apart from being diverse and unique are also important when charged low prices
especially after tax incentives. In natural economic theory, prices advantages are usually a
major driving factor of tourists’ visits, especially low and middle spenders. High spenders on
the other hand would prefer to get a quality products base but at a high price.
Apart from playing a direct role in direct influence to the tourists, cultural activities (resources)
are major roles of Tabaka area of Kisii in attracting visitors. Several cultural activities were
practiced; songs and dances, artifacts and souvenirs. In areas where culture is still of
significance, more tourists are likely to visit in order to have first-hand experience of the local
culture (Gekahu and Waithaka, 1992). This has been reported to be the case with the
Maasai community who attract more tourists to Kenya due to their unique culture base
(Sinclair, 2000). There were also the marketing of premises as well as landscape as tourists’
attraction facilities. This provided the direct link between tourists and the hotel together with
interaction with the locals to promote tourism.
Several services were offered by the hotel to encourage visits. These services included
cultural orientation, landscape, wildlife and bird watching as well as lodging and swimming
facilities. The importance of cultural values and norms to visitors cannot be gainsaid. Since
African culture is perceived to be unique in the world by most tourists, they would be more
interested to view the culture in premises offering them. Landscape, wildlife and bird
watching have been exhaustively discussed by several workers (Sindiga, 1995; Sindiga,
1996; Jafari, 1997; Akama, 1997) as the main tourist attractions in Kenya. If such services
are offered in Tabaka, then they stand proper chances of attracting more tourists. A case in
point has been highlighted by Kwena (1997) in Kericho District within the tea estates. The
beautiful scenery offered by the tea estates attracts several thousands of both domestic and
international tourists, who spend a chunk of their money in the local hospitality
establishments.
In as much as tourists are accepting to pay visits to Kenya, they were limited by the quality of
services, which seems to limit the duration of their stay. If no urgent measures are taken to
rectify some of the key points raised by the tourists, then repeat guests and more arrivals are
likely to diminish considerably. Among the services that were highly rated by tourists as good
were the prices, friendliness of the staff, swimming and lodging facilities. The hotel seems to
offer a very competitive or low price as mentioned earlier due to the tax incentive. Matters
touching on finance often lead to very high increases in visitors’ base as long as quality is not
adversely affected (Sindiga, 1997). The friendliness of the employees was the other bonus
for the hotel establishment in attracting more tourists to the area. However, hostility by the
locals will definitely encourage visitors to take a quick flight back home. Friendliness of the
local environment is one factor that seemed to encourage more tourists to visit Kenya
especially to the coast. In most of these sites “brotherhood” and “sisterhood” is encouraged
and every visitor is welcomed home like a brother/sister. This is what has encouraged growth
of beach tourism along the Kenyan Coast.

, 2015
42
Facilities that seemed to hinder development of tourism locally in Tabaka area of Kisii
included poor infrastructure, lack of product variety, bird watching and cultural orientations.
Poor infrastructure such as roads has been reported by several researchers who argued that
the quality of roads is often pathetic that an hour’s journey can last for up to 5 hours. Such
poor quality roads often lead to discomfort during the course of the journey, which does not
seem ‘to eager well for the tourists. The cost of ware and tare could also result to increased
overhead costs for private companies which have to be used by the tourists. Development of
tourism promotion by any enterprise can be bogged down by the presence of certain
perturbations and challenges that may eventually impede the progression in the tourism
promotion. Several challenges key among them, lack of finance, harsh government policies,
poor marketing, lack of staff motivation and lack of technical expertise seemed to limit full
achievement of their promotional status of tourism by the Tabaka area of Kisii. ‘
In conclusion, this study indicated that the Tabaka area of Kisii has large artefacts that can
promote tourism but is still receiving low tourists numbers, currently at about 200 per year.
However, there were aspects of enhancing tourists’ visits including: aggressive marketing,
improving infrastructure, provision of unique product base. Cultural practices through songs,
dances and artifacts and souvenirs were also major activities that enhanced the status of the
Tabaka area of Kisii. Other facilities provided to tourists that enhance the area as tourists’
establishments were landscape, attractive packages and sales promotion. The nature of
services offered to tourists by the Tabaka area of Kisii in its endeavor to self-promotion
included; cultural orientation, landscape, wildlife and birds watching as well as lodging and
swimming facilities. Such combination of services was ideal to attract a broader base of
tourists. Major constraints facing the Tabaka area of Kisii in promoting its activities to tourists
to encourage increased visits are; lack of capital, poor government policies and council by-
laws, lack of motivation and expertise as well as poor marketing skills.
Since the area has high diversity of cultural groups and various communities each with
unique cultures, there should be closer collaboration between the management of the
Tabaka area of Kisii, locals and other groups of people in order to increase cultural
diversities that is richly abound in the area. Since the world is growing rather rapidly into a
global village, where traditional methods of marketing are becoming outdated, the
management of the Tabaka area of Kisii should consider introducing and using Internet to
market themselves. Such marketing strategy is likely to attract large customers’ base and not
few locals. Finally the hotels should liaise with local government representatives to
encourage the change of the archaic laws such as high and double taxation. There is also an
urgent need to look for expertise in managing the affairs of the hotels, especially handling
marketing matters.
References
Achiron, M. and Wilkinson. K. (1999). The last Safari: Will Africa Wilderness Turn into a strong of
glorified game parks? Newsweek 32: 20-23.
Akama, J.S. (1996). Wildlife conservation in Kenya. A political – Ecological analysis of Nairobi and
Tsavo region. Washington DC. African Development Foundation.
Akama, J.S. (1997). Tourism in Kenya: Problems and Policy Alternatives. Progress in Tourism and
Hospitality Research. 3: 95-105.

, 2015
43
Barasa L. (2005). Special Report; “Its Park Or New Suburbs Says KWS. The Daily Nation. pp. 11.
Gakahu, C. and Waithaka, H. (1992). Visitor attitudes, perception, norms, and use patterns influencing
visitor carrying capacity. In C. Gakahu (ed.) Tourist Attitudes and Use Impacts in Masai Mara National
Reserve. Nairobi: English Press.
Jafari, J. (1987). The Tourism System: Socio-cultural models for theoretical and practical application.
Problems of tourism. 10(3): 3-17
Kenya Geological Survey, 2008. Survey of Geological landscape in Kenya. Government Printers,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. (2010). Population census results of Kenya by the year 2009.
Government Printers: Nairobi, Kenya: http://www.afdevinfo.com/htmlreports/org/org_33469.html.
Kombo K.D. and Tromp A.L. (2006). Proposal and Thesis Writing. An Introduction, Nairobi, Kenya
Paulines Publications Africa.
KTB (2010) Kenya Tourism: A newsletter of The Kenya Tourism Board. Issue No. 12 January – March
2010.
Kwena, E. (1997). Kenya fears huge drop in peak Tourism. The East African: Nation Centre.
Mong’are, T.N. (2010). Historical development of Kenyan mining industry: Western Kenya mines.
Paper presented at the 10
th
Geological Mining Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. Accessed 27
th
September 2010.
Sinclair, M.T. (2000). Tourism Development in Kenya. Washington D.C: World Bank.
Sindiga, I. (1996). Domestic tourism in Kenya. Annals of Tourism Research 23 (1), 19–31.

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44
The efficacy of small and medium scale tourism
enterprises (SMTEs) as tools for poverty alleviation:
The case of the North-Rift region in Kenya
John Akama,
Polycarp Oluoch
Dominic Rotich
Kenya
Introduction
Small and medium scale tourism enterprises (SMTEs) are businesses whose headcount or
turnover falls below certain envisioned limits. The term small and medium-sized businesses
or SMBs is predominantly used in the USA. EU member states, traditionally, have their own
definition of what constitutes an SME; for example the traditional definition of SMTE in
Germany has a limit of 250 employees, while in Belgium the limit is set at 100 employees.
However, in recent years, the EU has started to come up with a standardized definition of the
SME concept. In its most recent definition, EU categorizes companies with fewer than 50
employees as "small", and those with fewer than 250 as "medium". In contrast, in the United
States, when a smallscale business is defined by the number of employees, it often refers to
those businesses with fewer than 100 employees, while medium-sized business often refers
to those with fewer than 500 employees. Both the USA and the EU, generally, use the same
threshold of fewer than 10 employees for small offices (SOHO) businesses. Another
example, in South Africa the term SMME, for Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises, is used
to refer to small and medium scale business enterprises. Elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa,
the phrase MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) is used.
Hence, as the above examples indicate, the size threshold conceptualization of small and
medium scale businesses vary from country to country and/or region to region. Kenya has
tended to adapt the EU definition of SMEs. All in all, it should be stated that the lack of a
universal definition of SMEs has over the year made conducting coherent research as relates
to SMEs more difficult and unsystematic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/).
SMTEs as tools for pro-poor tourism development
Reduction of poverty, especially in Third World countries such as Kenya where it is
widespread, is a universally agreed priority and targets have been put in place to reduce
poverty level by one-half by 2015 (see for example, UN Millennium Development Goal).
Governments and aid agencies acknowledge that whilst economic growth is essential for
poverty reduction. However, in itself; it is insufficient to ensure a significant reduction and/or
redistribution of wealth. Growth that is specifically pro-poor is a pre-requisite for any
significant progress towards achieving agreed targets for poverty reduction.
In this regard, tourism has many characteristics that make it potentially pro-poor:
 It is a diverse industry, which increases the scope of widespread participation,

, 2015
45
 In most instances, the customer comes to the product site, which provides opportunities
for economic linkages, (i.e., souvenirs sales, indigenous art performances and cultural
displays),
 It is highly dependant on natural capital (wildlife and scenery) and cultural assets that
marginalized community in Third World countries, particularly in Africa, ‘have in pretty’,
 It offers labour-intensive and small-scale opportunities compared with other economic
sectors (Deloitte and Touche, 1999),
 More benefits tend to go to women, for instance, it has been noted that the tourism
industry employs a high proportion of women and the youth (Ashley, Boyd and Goodwin,
(2000); Roe and Urquhart (2001),
 In most countries with high levels of poverty, tourism is a significant sector or the industry
is growing at higher rates compared to other sectors of the economy.
Moreover, it should be made clear that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the
backbone of most economies in most parts of the world, and are a key source of economic
growth, dynamism and flexibility even in advanced and industrialized countries, as well as in
emerging and developing economies. In this regard, SMEs constitute the dominant form of
business organization, accounting for between 95% to 99% of enterprises depending on the
country; particularly, it has also been noted that small businesses are particularly important in
bringing innovative products or techniques to the market (OECD, 2006).
Global wealth has almost doubled since 1990, but nearly half the world’s population subsists
on less than US$ 2 per day. Poverty remains a major challenge to sustainable development,
environmental conservation and global stability in the currently globalized economy. The key
to poverty alleviation is economic growth that is inclusive and reaches the majority of people
in peripheral regions of the world. Improving the performance and sustainability of local
entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which represent the backbone of
global economic activity, can help achieve this type of growth. Most SMEs quite often have a
vested interest in community development. Being local, they draw upon the community for
their workforce and rely on it to undertake most of the businesses. They are an important
source of employment, particularly for low-skilled workers, as well as women and the youth,
who usually make up the largest proportion of the poor and economically marginalized
segments of society, particularly in Third World countries such as Kenya (SNV and WBCSD,
2007). This is the case for small scale tourism enterprises which in most instances are
usually owned by, employ and provide increased income for the poor communities. These
are the issues that are elucidated in this study using the case of the North Rift Region of
Kenya.
Study area and methodology
Tourism in Kenya has grown to become a major foreign exchange earner, second to the
agricultural sector (KNBS, 2008). As such, Kenya’s national policy blueprint “Vision 2030”,
identifies tourism as a leading sector in moving the country forward in terms of economic
growth and overall development. This is to be realized by turning the country into one of the
leading long haul tourist destinations, creating new high value niche products, and investing
in new and diverse tourism products and services (Kenya Government Vision 2030). There
has been continued growth of tourism in Kenya both in visitor arrivals and tourism earning in
recent years. Specifically, the tourism earnings increased from KShs. 48.9 billion in 2005 to
KShs. 56.2 billion in 2006. The tourism revenues increased by 16.4% annually, reaching an

, 2015
46
all-time high of KShs. 65.4 billion in 2007. The tourism earnings, however, slummed in the
first quarter of 2008 due to political wrangling resulting from the disputed Presidential
election. According to the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB), international tourist arrivals dropped
by a significant 36% to 561,313 in the first quarter of 2008 compared to 873,433 in the same
period in 2007 (Business Daily, July 31st
2008). However, from the mid 2008s, there has
been an upwards surge in the number of international tourist arrivals mainly due to
aggressive marketing by KTB in major tourist source countries especially in Europe, North
America, Southeast Asia and the Far East.
Attractions
The North Rift region is undoubtedly endowed with diverse attractions and features including
beautiful scenery, rich local culture, natural spars and hot springs, unique wildlife and
remarkable sporting talent. For the case of this study, the region covers four administrative
districts of Baringo, Keiyo, Koibatek and Marakwet. It has an estimated population of about
one million people, with 43% earning less than US$ 2 a day. As a consequence, in most of
the North Rift region, the level of poverty is indeed alarming and excruciating to any casual
observer. For instance, in Baringo District, it was estimated that in 2001, about 57% of the
popu1ation lived in absolute poverty. Furthermore, the relatively high fertility rates of over 7
children per family and high population growth rates of over 3% per annum are unlikely to
diminish the poverty situation in the North Rift region as a whole (North Rift Inter-Council
Forum, 2005). The region has got four major touristic features: Lakes Begonia and Baringo,
the deep gorged and crocodile invested Kerio River and the unique winding and cascading
Rift Valley system. It also has an assemblage of rare species of wild game and birds, rich
cultural heritage and fantastic sporting activities. However, it should be noted that most of
these touristic attractions still remain under-utilized and/or untapped due to the undiversified
nature of Kenya’s tourism industry which is mainly arched on wildlife safari in a few game
parks and beach tourism at the coast (North-Rift Inter-council Forum-2005).
Minimal benefits
Notwithstanding, from the great achievements of the Kenyan tourism industry in the last 20
years, especially in terms of international tourist arrivals, the North Rift region has managed
to bag only a marginal share of the benefits. For example, in 2007, with the country recording
an impressive occupancy of 6.939 thousand bed nights, the Western Kenya tourist circuit
where North Rift is situated received a minimal share of 234 thousand bed nights (KNBS,
2008). This underperformance has been attributed to several factors including insecurity,
negative publicity, limited marketing efforts, poor coordination among stakeholders and low
community participation (SNV, 2008). This has been made worse by the recent post-election
violence that rocked the country after the 2007 general elections. According to a survey done
by SNV, tourism earnings dropped by a massive 98% in Lake Baringo and Lake Bogoria
National Reserves (which are major tourist herbs in the North Rift) between January and
March 2008.
Methodology
The study sought to identify the opportunities, contributions and challenges facing small
scale tourism enterprises as contributors to poverty alleviation. It mainly applied participatory
approaches and field observatory methodologies to elicit problem-oriented, field-based

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47
information from key stakeholders, particularly representatives of the local communities
inhabiting the North Rift Region. These included direct observation, semi-structured and
structured interviews and focused group discussions. Key interviews were undertaken in the
study area over a six month duration (August 2008–January 2009) with a diverse range of
stakeholders, including officials of a local NGO (North Rift Tourist Forum), county council
officials, wildlife reserve wardens, conservation officials, government officials, members of
parliament, managers of tourism facilities, tour operators, tourism officers, members of
community tourism organizations and community project participants. The study used a
census-oriented approach to target all the small medium tourism enterprises in the region. A
quantitative baseline survey was also carried out to determine the current status of tourism in
the region in terms of revenues, arrivals, employment levels and visitor characteristics.
These methods were deliberately chosen as they were deemed to be more efficient and easy
to elicit information especially in a rural Third World setting where the use of structured
methodologies would not have elicited the requisite in-depth responses concerning various
aspects of tourism development and its impact on poverty reduction and social
empowerment of the local people and other key tourism stakeholders in the region. Hence,
direct participation and observation was a key method in bringing out the practical issues on
the ground, some of which could not be captured by use of other methodologies.
Research results
Brief classification of SMTEs in the region
It was established that most tourism enterprises (55 in number) in the region (i.e.,
accommodation, curio shops, boat and camping facilities) fall within the classification of
SMEs. However there was a variance in the scale of operations and activities of these
enterprises. There are those that are actively involved in tourism activities, most of which are
accommodation service providers with less than ten engaging in curio and boat operations.
The majority of these active enterprises is under private ownership and/or family
establishments, and is not specifically owned by whole communities. In this regard, only 5
out of 55 enterprises surveyed are community owned. The second category includes those
that are not fully engaged in tourism activities and incorporate other activities for income
generation.
Employment opportunities
SMTEs in the region employ a total of 1.359 people and out of this; only 552 were directly
and engaged fulltime in tourism activities while the other 807 are only partially involved in
tourism. The people who are partially involved are mainly engaged in community owned
enterprises including women self-help groups, youth groups and local cultural groups. Their
main activities included production of curios, cultural art performances, music and dance,
cultural artifacts, and community environmental conservation. (See annex 1 and 2)

119 ATLAS Africa Volume 9 - the autors

119 ATLAS Africa Volume 9 - the autors

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