Introduction
The definition of cultural heritage tourism according to the national trust is the travelling to see and experience a place and activities that authentically represent the stories and the people of the past as well as the present.( Prins, H.2000). These include cultural practices, natural resources available and historic sites. In most countries which practice tourism, they find it that tourism contributes a lot towards developing their economies. In a situation where proper cultural heritage is done, it helps not only in protecting our nation’s culture but also it protects cultural treasures. It also improves the quality of life of the residents and the visitors at large.
When tourism is linked with heritage and culture, it can lead to sustainable economy of many countries. It is not advisable to promote heritage and culture separately since they work well in tourism sector when linked together. (Eliot, C. 1966). The secrete idea in cultural heritage tourism is that, preserve your heritage and culture but share it with the visitors which in this case the tourists and eventually you will reap the benefits of tourism.
In this paper, I am going to dwell mostly a bout heritage, culture and tourism in Kenya. The question I need to answer is that why did I chose Kenya? Where is Kenya situated, do Kenya form the most tourist destination in the world? How organized I Kenya in terms of tourism? The above question will describe well country Kenya as far as tourism is concerned and this paper will also dwell mostly on the culture and heritage of the country in question.
Kenya is one of the leading tourist attraction centres in Africa. It is situated in the Eastern part of Africa. The means of reaching this tourist attraction centre and many and varied. They have the advantage of not being landlocked and they also have international Airports in the country.
It is believed from the collection of Flora and fauna in Kenya that the early man lived there. This has attracted tourists form outside the country to go and find out this fact.( Prins, H.2000).
Tourists’ attraction features in Kenya are the famous wildlife and beaches as well as the diverse culture. There is one significant feature in Kenya when you visit each and every tourist attraction center. This feature is an exit pole welcoming you back once more and thanking you for having visited that place. This shows the welcoming spirit of these people and politeness.
Kenya is not all a bout the wildlife scenery but it consists of many unique cultures of which the outstanding and very unique one of them being the Maasai culture which I will discuss later. (Eliot, C. 1966). It is the people of Kenya who bring a bout the richness of culture for tourists to enjoy. Each and every landscape has a different culture of community as well as the wildlife.
Just to begin with, in total Kenya have 42 varied cultures. Among this culture, they spoke different languages. This is one of the most social tapestries on earth. There heritage is stretched back in the long history .there history can be found at the three UNESCO world heritage sites in Kenya. Some of the evidence of human habitation on earth has been found in Kenya at a place called Koobi Fora. ( Gachenge, B.2008). One of there major tourists town called Lamu contain some of the traces of evidences depicting that early trade took place in Kenya. They have Mount Kenya which symbolizes one of the natural features and a traditional symbol of creation and most importantly, this feature reminds them on the importance of conserving their natural features for the future.
Kenya also has a unique cultural mosaic as one of the old creation and one will have the opportunity to travel all over the country to see them. Another culture in Kenya which one will come across is the Swahili sailors at the coastal region of the country. Swahili is the national language of Kenya and it is very easy to learn, therefore most tourists go there just with the sole reason to learn that language. The culture of Kenya and their practice, allow them to teach this language to any willing learner. This promotes and communication among the people and more so, give the tour guides easy time to explain points to tourists very exhaustively.
After a trip to Kenya, one will appreciate the fact that each and every part has a unique feature on it’s on. While travelling along the southern part of the country, there exist the Maasai houses wildly known as the Manyatta. They are very unique in the appearance since it is a very small rounded hart of which somebody might not believe that human beings do exist in such harts. Just next to the Maasai are the Samburu who almost have the same culture as that of the Maasai. They have their young warriors who put on very unique clothing known as shuka. These two particular communities have very different culture from the rest of the Kenyans. It is them who attract tourists in mostly in Kenya. In the western part of Kenya, exist the Luos who are mostly known as fishmongers and they are the master fishermen of Lake Victoria. It is quite evident that in each and every part of Kenya there are new and fascinating cultures as well as cultural events.
At the coast, there are annual cultural celebrations which are being attended by many tourists. Lamu and Malindi form part of tourists’ towns at the coastal part of Kenya. The towns contain most of the historic sites as well as the heritage and cultures at the coast province part of Kenya. During these ceremonies, there are several cultural dances being performed by the native people. The most famous tribe is the Giriama who dominate the culture of the coast.
In the western part of Kenya, there is community known as the Abagussii. This particular community is famous for bull fighting which they organize every year. This event attracts several tourists across the world. The aim of the Kenyan tourism board is to ensure that each and every year they introduced new and attractive scenic features or activities to attract more people. For instance, bull fighting in the western part of Kenya is new and people find it very attractive and enjoyable. Still in the western province, there is kakamega forest where there is a crying stone. This has been a shocking phenomenon in this area and it has formed a major part of tourist attraction.
Another significance feature in Kenya is the Bomas of Kenya. Here, her are several cultural events which are being performed. This place is situated in the capital city of Kenya known as Nairobi. Therefore it serves mostly the urban people. Therefore the co modification is problematic since most of the stakeholders here are the tourists who contribute a lot on the types of culture which are being promoted here. In this regard, the national folklores troops were formed to give a critical sense of authenticity. They were formed specifically to promote the culture and heritage of the Kenyan people. In this place, Kenyans try tom diverse their tourists’ attraction in the country. They promote both the modern and traditional culture.
Marketing tourism in Kenya
Kenya is rich in tourist attraction centers. Therefore, marketing in this country is of great importance to make them utilize the resources they have fully. It is situation at the best place where transport is not a problem to many tourists. Its situation at the coast, make it accessible through water. They have several beaches which needs expansion to attract many tourists as oppose to now. At times especially during winter, they receive many tourists which results to flocking of the beaches. One of the examples of those attractive beaches is the pirate beaches which need to be expanded to accommodate more people.
Secondly, the culture of welcoming tourists through traditional songs and dance at the airport should be extended to the beaches. Since some tourists are afraid of water therefore, they would be as well be entertained through these traditional dances and songs.
The next thing is that the Kenyan government should make tight security in the country to curb the incidences of kidnapping. The alshaab group is found in Somalia a country neighboring Kenya. They are a threat to security and therefore posses more danger to the tourism sector. Through thorough and constant advertisement, tourism in Kenya can be taken to another level. They do advertisement but not enough to reach most parts of the world. The most crucial issue in tourism is language. But we find that Kenyans speak English as their second language and they use it most of the time to the advertisement. Hence people who do not understand this language might fail to get the message. (Maina, W. 2008). For the message to reach many people the world, they should learn to use different languages.
Kenyan government should be in a position to expand the hotels in which the tourists spend during their visit. The congestion found especially in towns like Mombasa, Lamu and Kilifi should be done away with. Accommodation is very vital in countries where tourists visit because without good hotels, then people might not find somewhere to stay. In terms of visa and entry to Kenya should be hastened. By now, there are several visa lies in the collection centers.
The most important aspect of tourism which Kenyans tend to give less attention to is the domestic tourism. Even in their own country, many communities also love to see and interact with some other communities. The local communities travel country wide to experience and see some of the historic sites or culture in the country. The Maasai people in Kenya have got a very unique culture to an extend that even other communities admire. Domestic tourism has got several advantages to the people of Kenya. One of them being, since people understand and know a lot about their country, they have the opportunity to travel on their own and to further places. This can result to constant tourism in Kenya whole the year through.
The Benefits of Cultural Heritage Tourism
Kenya can have many advantages a rising from cultural heritage on its economy. Some of the benefits which can be ripped from this type of tourism are jobs can be created, the tour guides as well as the high value of goods. Because of cultural heritage tourism, new businesses can be formed to cater for the needs of the tourists. Such new businesses include curio shops which are used to sell traditional sandals and sweaters. (Urry, J. 1996). The sandals are made of animal skins and sweaters are made of wools from sheep. All these contribute to the economy of Kenya. Even though tourism adds less tangible but quality and important payoffs are as a result of it. A well organized tourism improves the life of the people living a round the parks. This is because they take advantage of the tourists who come to visit that place. For instance, in Lake Bogoria situated in the hearts of the rift valley in Kenya produces hot springs. Therefore, the people around there sell to the tourists eggs to go and boil in that hot water coming from that particular lake. This is fan and the community around also get profit from selling eggs.
Another benefit is that there is expansion of infrastructures even to the remote areas of the country to enhance communication. A part from tourism, people use these roads for transportation. It also makes people to gain pride a bout their culture like the Masaai people of Kenya. Kenya which has maintained culture and heritage culture make the people who travel to those places to learn new people, place and time. Visitors as well can learn and appreciate the culture and realize the importance of preserving culture and heritage among the communities. The biggest benefit of cultural heritage tourism is that it has made Kenya to diverse its economy and maintains some of its unique culture in search away that they gain from it in the modern world.
Conclusion
It well appreciated that there exists ministry of tourism in Kenya. That is the body that is mandated to plan, organize and carry out all the activities that pertains tourism in Kenya. This body should be spread across the country especially in areas where tourism form the most part of the economy. (Urry, J. 1996). The strategic areas where this body should have its headquarters is in coast and rift valley provinces of Kenya. This will enable it to execute its mandate very smoothly. Some of the parks while visited you cannot see some wild animals as they have disappeared in the bushes until latte hours. These animals should have their houses built in places where they are permanently situated. Such that the tourists can see them any time of the day. According to my research, there is high rate of poaching in Kenya. This in the long run will lead to the reducing the number of wild animals in the parks hindering tourism. Another serious consequence is that it may lead to the extinction of some of the endangered species in the world such as rhinos. The poachers should be stopped and the game rangers should be diploid in each and every corner of the animal parks to beef up security.
MOMBSA ISLAND: AN ISLAND AT THE COAST OF KENYA
It is very easy to get to Mombasa Island since it has an international airport. The easiest way to get there is by plane flying to the international airport.
Because of being a little out of the way on the northern coast of Kenya, Mombasa Island has managed to stay unspoilt and untouched by the mass tourism and development that has hit much of Kenya’s coastline. As Kenya's oldest living town, Mombasa has retained all the charm and character built up over centuries, with cultural mixtures to charm even a Kenyan.
We set to Mombasa very in early February. When the aero plane started landing, I was first confused because I could not see the airport. All that was visible were scattered houses with palm tree thatched rooftops, water and the Island was littered with tall palm trees that were outstanding amongst the small bushes all over Mombasa Island.
After the aeroplane landed, we all walked towards the arrival lounge which was an open place with a palm tree thatched roof under which long wooden benches were available for the tourist to sit and wait for their luggage to be offloaded from the aircraft. As I approached the sitting area, I noticed the departure area was just a wooden hut and we couldn’t help laughing as it looked so different from anything else we had ever seen. It was actually exciting.
Soon our bags were being pushed in a wooden cart towards the sitting area. Ahmed a local attendant carried both of my bags on his shoulder and guided us to the waiting Taxi about 100 meters away
It was my first time to see the Indian ocean fro a close range.. I could already feel that I was approaching a remarkable place I had longed to visit since my childhood.
Looking at the buildings, this is where the traditional Swahili architecture meets with contemporary design in this place of living history. The presence of the Swahili culture can be felt by observing, listening and smelling.
Young girls walked home in school uniforms and veils on their heads telling us that this is Muslim Kenya. It would be incorrect for Muslim girls to walk with their heads uncovered. Older women dressed in long Buibuis and with their heads covered as well.
Men in long Kanzus and white caps on their heads sat together in groups. Very few young men would put on the long Kanzus but you’d see those taking drinks in bars and chewing Miraa (Kart) which is common but frowned on in the Muslim culture.
Swahili is the national language in Kenya and is the common language in Lamu, but as someone from a different part of Kenya, I notice the accents of the locals. It’s clear by listening to the first three words they speak to you. This is as a result of the Arab influence along the coastal and is another sign that I am in a different Kenya.
Because I wanted to be close to the beach, we headed for pirates beach, a five minutes journey on a tour guide vehicle.
I could see beautiful resorts and hotels along the Island. The smell of the sea was a clear indication we were far away from home. Our guides took us to several places to check the best place to stay.
Pirate beach is a collection of narrow sandy lanes, tall stone houses, some smaller thatched dwellings, mosques, ruins and a few market stalls, small shops, a telephone booth and one Barclays Bank cash machine well guarded but with no money.
Here in the cool evenings the elders gather to talk, children take Madrassa classes while women come out to shop. There were a good number of cats that could make human sounds like a crying baby at night that kept annoying me.
We ended up staying in Nyali Hotel. The hotel had a magnificent rooftop with a beautiful view of the Indian Ocean. While relaxing and sunbathing on the comfortable sun beds I could feel the cool breeze from the dunes. It was a fantastic place to watch the moon rise and the shooting stars.
The main dishes were the Swahili rice and a variety of sea food and fish.
This was just the beginning of a five day holiday of discovery. After our long, tiring but fascinating journey I deserved to a good night’s sleep before starting my discovery of this special place.
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