Kenya Association of Tour Operation (KATO) has plans to create four major tour operation hubs in the country.
Speaking during the Kenya Tourism Federation single tourist visa awareness programme at Imperial Hotel in Kisumu, KATO chief officer Fred Kaigua said that the hubs include Kisumu, Nakuru, Nanyuki and Mombasa.
"The tour operations at the county brought challenges and opportunities. There were small groups of people who don't want to mix," said Kaigua.
He said that they cannot set up 47 tour operation branches citing that some counties have very few tour operators to sustain a branch. Kaigua said that the programme involves getting big association to running the created regional hub.
"We have identified Kisumu hub to serve the western circuit, Nakuru to serve the entire Rift Valley, Nanyuki to serve the Mt Kenya region and Mombasa to serve the coastal region," he said.
He said the hubs will cover the major regions in the country before being devolved.
"The issue is how sustainable with the county branches, it’s going to take a while before we have the county branches," said Kaigua.
Speaking in the same event, Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers CEO Mike Macharia said devolution is key agenda in tourism advocacy.
Macharia said already, six counties in the North Rift have agreed to work together as a regional tourism block.
"The coast region also has six counties called Jumia ya county ya Pwani. They have a chairman at the governor’s office," he said.