Kisumu hospitality industry revamps ahead of Festac festival

Kisumu's hospitality industry is experiencing tourism boom as hotels and conferencing facilities invest in state-of-the-art facilities.

This comes at a time the county is preparing to host the much-anticipated fifth edition of the World Blacks and Africans Festival of Arts and Culture (Festac) from August 25 to September 1.

Hotels are already experiencing 80 per cent booking as inquiries continue to come in.

A spot check across established that most hotels have revamped their services as they seek to tap into the region's tourism potential.

The move is buoyed by the relentless effort by Governor Anyang' Nyong'o's administration to open up the lakefront through the improvement of roads along the lake.

The posh Le Sovereign Suites in Mlimani suburb, Kisumu, that was formerly known as Sovereign Hotel, is getting a facelift after it was acquired by businessman Sammy Wakiaga.

The hotel's manager Masollia Okinda said they want to tap into the potential of the lakefront.

"We are refurbishing the hotel and giving it a much-needed facelift. We are also changing the equipment as well as menu engineering where we are making some improvements on the meals that we offer at this hotel," Okinda said.

With a breathtaking view of the lake, Le Sovereign Suites is among the high end facilities that have sprung up along the lakefront to boost Kisumu's hospitality sector.

"We have Festac festival coming to Kisumu and this is a great opportunity for growth," Okinda said.

Investment in the hospitality industry has also created employment opportunities for Kisumu residents.

Investors told The Standard they believe the county’s economy can be transformed by investments at the lakefront

Apart from Sovereign, other hotels that have breathed life into the region's hospitality industry include Imperial, Sunset and Milimani resort hotels.

Lake Victoria Tourism Association Chairperson Robinson Anyal said various stakeholders in the industry have adopted a multifaceted approach to investment which has subsequently led to the emergence of new hotels.

"The business tourism in the region is from local, national and regional conference the Kisumu city has played host to. In the year 2022 hosted Africiticities conference attended by more than 10,000 delegates. From August 25 to September 1 Kisumu will host Festac with expected attendance of 8000-10,000 delegates," Anyal said.

"The region relies on more than 90 per cent domestic market with very few tourists from the international market and stakeholders are keen to fill in the gap by upgrading of the various touristic sites like beaches on lake Victoria, Ndere island, Kisumu museum and Impala sanctuary," he added.

Various hotels in Kisumu are keen to attract a new customers.

He also urged the county governments in the region as well as the national government through Kenya Tourism Board to double efforts to open up the western Kenya tourism circuit.

According to the Lake Victoria Tourism Association documents, Kisumu in 2010 had a hotel bed capacity of just around 1500 beds. This has however increased to the current bed capacity of 10,000 in the hotels, according to the organisation that brings together stakeholders in the industry in the lake region.

This tremendous growth amid economic and socio-political challenges has been attributed to combined efforts of stakeholders and the county government geared towards revamping the sector to realise its full potential.

Through its Mice (Meetings, Incentives, Conference and Exhibitions) programme that lays focus on business tourism, the Kisumu county government has embarked promoting the lakeside city as conference and business tourism destination.

This move, the County Director of Tourism Inviolete Adhiambo said will see hotel bookings in the go up as the visitors increase.

"The programme within the county government is geared towards Mice tourism, the business tourism. By opening up the county for business tourism, we are hoping to automatically revamp the hotel and the hospitality industry in Kisumu," Adhiambo said.

"We're trying to make sure that the hotel industry stays afloat by bringing various business meetings, seminars and conferences in Kisumu. We had Africities and it worked very well. We're now looking forward to Festac Festival with almost 10,000 attendees. That will go along way in increasing the hotel bookings," he added.