Kilifi County will set up an international conference and tourism centre in a new move aimed at bolstering the tourism sector in the region.
ODM Kilifi gubernatorial candidate Gideon Mung’aro assured tourism players of these new plans he said will change and eradicate the traditional methods that have been used in the past to bring visitors into the country.
He spoke after touring Sunset paradise, a hotel resort owned by youths in Dabaso, Watamu in Kilifi North.
He said that having the tourism and sports conference centre has been one of his biggest agenda because it will bring on board the sports tourism, a new frontier that is being embraced by many countries around the world to bring in tourists.
“We have discovered that we need to set up some amenities that will directly sale Kilifi as a tourism destination. That means we have to set up an international sports and tourism centre to tap into sports tourism which is currently one of the areas we need to grow the tourism segment,” he said.
The former lands and later devolution CAS said he will personally and separately market Kilifi on its own as a tourist attraction and also open up all the areas that will speed up the development of tourism in the region.
“We have to support any efforts geared towards improving the tourism sector. I know the sector has suffered a number of challenges but we just need to look above that and support its revival,* he said.
He thanked the youths who came up with the idea of the floating restaurant, promising to support them to expand their hotel.
“These are the ideas we need to support. Coming up with such a brilliant idea of running a floating restaurant. If they can be supported then they will grow and that is what we want to do once we get into the office. The money meant for tourism should be in the grassroots and not in offices,” he said.
One of the founders of the facility Edward Kasiwa said they started the restaurant more than ten years ago as one way of protecting the mangrove ecosystem around Sita creek in Dabaso.
“We are a group of about 60 members whom we came together in planting and conserving the mangrove. We later on registered our group as Sunset paradise and opened this floating restaurant where visitors can enjoy their delicacies as they watch the sunset,” he said.
Mr Kasiwa said their aim is to expand the project by building cottages around the creek for accommodation.
“We have big plans for this creek. We want to make it more vibrant,” he said.
Dabaso which is a tourist village boasts of multitude of mangrove trees and natural Islands around them including Kirekwe,Sardenya,Kadaina among others acting as a tourist attraction and village holiday center.
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