Government lifts ban on meetings held in private hotels KBC

The government has temporarily lifted the ban on meetings being held in private hotels.

This according to the Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani is to support Tourism promotion which is a critical sector.

CS Yatani said that the hospitality industry is one of the hard-hit sectors in the country owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“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.

“In this regard Mr Speaker to support this critical sector the government has initiated a number of urgent measures including a temporary lifting of the ban to hold meetings in private hotels by government agencies.”

“The government, in addition, has also waived landing and parking fees at Kenyan airports in order to facilitate the movement of cargo in and out of Kenya,” said the CS.

In efforts to boost the tourism sector post-Covid-19, CS Yatani said the government will scale up Tourism marketing and provide hotel refurbishment through soft loans to be channelled through the Tourism Finance Corporation.

Ksh 3.0 billion has also been set aside to support the renovation of facilities and the restructuring of business operations by actors in the industry.

160 Community Conservancies and 5,500 community scouts from Kenya Wildlife Services are also beneficiaries in this year’s budget as they have been provided with grants to the tune of Ksh 2.0 billion for a period of 1 year.

The Tourism Promotion Fund was also a winner in this year’s budget as Ksh 2.5 billion has been set aside by government and an additional Ksh 3.8 billion for the Tourism Fund.

Tourism services have been affected following hotel cancellations occasioned by lockdowns and travel bans.

The sector has since been thrown into a spin with hundreds of hotels closing across the country, as more than 50,000 workers remain at home on unpaid leave.