Kisumu County Deputy Governor flagging off a Tourism entourage on Wednesday. The caravan toured Lwang’ni beach before cleaning up Oile market which was opened up for the public from Wednesday henceforth. [Photo|hivisasa]
Increased investment in the Tourism sector has put Kisumu County on the map as one of the most preferred destination, Deputy Governor, Dr Mathews Owili has said.
Dr Owili called on other stakeholders to consider pooling resources towards opening up the Western Kenya Tourism circuit for greater exploitation.
He said the revenue collected by Kisumu county government from the tourism sector was far less than 50% thus a clear indication that it was yet to realize its full potential.
The Deputy Governor was speaking during the International World Tourism Day Celebrations held at Kisumu Museum where he disclosed that the county has partnered with neighbouring countries to boost the economic potential.
Dr Owili observed that Kisumu County forms part of the Lake Regional Economic Block with a population of 15 million which needed to be harnessed to open it up as a gateway for greater markets.
Kisumu County Director of Tourism and Culture, Thomas Ouko echoed similar sentiments but quickly added that many more partners were willing to collaborate with them to boost their investments in the sector over the next few years.
Ouko said the County Government has a major role to play in spearheading the efforts considering that Tourism activities have since been devolved.
Participants at the forum were later taken on an incursion of Lake Victoria which is a shared resource in the East African region and has been earmarked for greater infrastructural development such having a ring-road around it to fully exploit the abundant potential.