By Patrick Shisanya Majanja
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 24- The Hotel Industry in Kenya has been limping towards its grave for some time now due to a number of factors.
A clear framework geared towards wooing and protecting foreign investors needed to be put in place as the government completely cedes the running of regulatory, investment and promotion of this industry to the investors.
A punishingly high tax regime has over the years seen investors close shop and crossover to countries where taxation just nibbles at their profits.
The government does not realize that it makes enough from the jobs created and other enterprises feeding from the core business of hotels in Kenya.
Well-connected individuals with no background in the running of hotels or such businesses have swamped the industry and unfortunately, these dubious characters hold sway over matters affecting the industry.
These charlatans are driven by greed and bring with them the dirty game of cutting corners into this otherwise straight business.
The workforce of the hotel industry in Kenya is fed by a system of education open to manipulation and colleges that are not fully specialized.
When therefore Covid-19 reared its ugly head in Kenya around March 2020, it found a hotel industry that had one foot in the grave already.
The conferencing business, whose top client is the government of Kenya, has been hard hit. Clients already working from home to observe Covid-19 protocols are not making bookings for conferences.
Many hotels that relied on conferencing as their main source of income have already closed. The reopening of these facilities is made harder by a government that is casually treating this pandemic.
Restaurants have had to reduce their seating capacity by about one third; and so, have bars. Night life housed in various hotels around the country abruptly came to an end.
The curfew hours put in place by the government have had far many people opting to dine in their homes other than eating out.
It is easy for employers like the government to have their workforce to work in shifts but for the hotel industry this arrangement will be absurd. Covid-19 removed the customer and therefore, hoteliers have had to offload even up to 75 percent of their workers as others just had to close their business.
For businesses that took loans for expansion, the bankers are knocking and there is virtually no hope that they will ever rise up again.
They have been left on their own. Parliament is busy with politics; the ministry of tourism was last heard of naming game and yet the tax man is calling.
Another lot of hoteliers who did not own the buildings they operated from, have been forced to close shop, and may not reopen as the landlords still expect rent.
The premises must have a 24hour guard detail and utilities must continue to be paid.
The uncertainty that goes hand in hand with doing business in Kenya could have trebled.
The hoteliers are at the mercy of the flip-flop decisions of this government in trying to manage the pandemic. Curfew times are being changed at will and lockdowns imposed even where they shouldn’t be.
This renders planning in business a nightmare and as you all know; sound planning is the main serving in any profitable business.
As the Architects still design buildings, Surveyors put up beacons, Doctors treat and Teachers continue to teach, I cannot think of any other industry that has been affected by this pandemic to levels such as those borne by hotel industry.
It will be very tough for the industry, even after the war against Covid-19 is won.
Patrick Shisanya Majanja is hotelier based in Kilifi.
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