Gift of God: Kenya's Tourism Development Ignores Token Legal and lnfrastructural Support

Abstract

Tourism has emerged as Kenya's lop foreign exchange earner over the last twenty years. There is evidence 10 show that despite the impressive performance of tourism, the key player, namely the public sector, is doing little to support this growing sector There is little on official documented policy, more of master plans and relatively low levels of funding for tourism, considering its contribution to the country's economy The provision of infrastructure, training for and services associated with tourism are wanting and more is provided in words than in deeds, Legislation related to tourism is rather scattered and the roles of various agencies keep on overlapping or conflict each other. Despite this, tourism has continued to grow every year. The need to reverse this attitude and to repackage the industry should now be the priority of all the players and beneficiaries of tourism in and outside Kenya.