Kenya Coast Tourism Association chairman Mohammed Hersi and Tourism CS Najib Balala at a past event. [Photo/ the-star.co.ke]
The Kenya Tourism Federation (KTF) has said the number of tourists streaming into the country has remained steady despite the heightened political temperatures.Speaking on Tuesday, KTF Chairman Mohamed Hersi noted that the critical industry has not experienced massive cancellation of visits by tourists as earlier anticipated.He, however, observed that hoteliers are remaining optimistic that the sector will blossom despite the current political impasse in the country."Kenyan tourism is resilient. We are looking forward to a good year. Already, numbers for the first to third quarters are extremely good. We are optimistic of bouncing back and getting to where the numbers were prior to 2007, when we had the highest arrivals," said Hersi, as quoted by the Standard.Earlier in the week, Tourism CS Najib Balala accused Opposition leaders of making negative statements that could scare away potential tourists and investors.Balala said the number of tourists and investors visiting the country has declined in the recent weeks due to the rising political temperatures.“Our colleagues in NASA should stop the negative talk they are engaging in and preach peace for the sake of the country’s economic development,” he said.