This archive report was first published on 11 June 2020.
On June 11, 2020, the Treasury Cabinet Secretary, Ukur Yatani, announced that the government has temporarily lifted the ban on meetings being held in private hotels.
This decision aims to support the tourism sector, which has been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to CS Yatani, the hospitality industry is one of the hardest-hit sectors in the country, with massive cancellations of hotel bookings resulting in increased job and income loss.
"Tourism is one of the hard-hit sectors in the economy. This is reflected by the massive cancellation of hotel bookings. The resulting effect has been an increased job and income loss," Dr Yatani said.
As part of the government's efforts to boost the tourism sector, CS Yatani announced that the government will scale up tourism marketing and provide hotel refurbishment through soft loans to be channelled through the Tourism Finance Corporation.
The government has also set aside Ksh 3.0 billion to support the renovation of facilities and the restructuring of business operations by actors in the industry.
Additionally, 160 Community Conservancies and 5,500 community scouts from Kenya Wildlife Services will benefit from grants worth Ksh 2.0 billion for a period of 1 year.
The Tourism Promotion Fund has also been allocated Ksh 2.5 billion, with an additional Ksh 3.8 billion for the Tourism Fund.
