Playing teeter totter on the wind-bowed palm trees.
Reading my name in the sand.
Crabs crawling over each other in a light green bucket.
These are my memories of Mombasa, Kenya's key coastal city. We went there often and the very name of the place makes me smile.
In an effort to give Kenya’s tourism industry an edge over its competitors, the Kenyan government has been looking for an investor to fund a $30 million, fully-fledged cruise ship terminal at the Port of Mombasa.
However, these plans were recently shelved. The government failed to find a strategic partner to invest in the facility, as many pulled their support after realizing that the project was not viable.
“The response was not good at all," said Transport Permanent Secretary Gerishon Ikiara. "The investors could not fathom such a huge investment, saying it did not guarantee returns because the terminal would just act as a gate allowing cruise ships in to dock."
Plan B s to improve the existing terminal being used by cruise ships. This new strategy, with an estimated price tag of $3 million, will include refurbishing the landing facilities and upgrading the road from the port to the town.
“What we have come to realise," said Ikiara, "is that the cruise business will thrive in this country if there is a good road network integrated with the landing facilities at the port."
“Cruise tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world," said Auni Kanji, the managing director of Abercrombie and Kent, the ground handler for cruise ships in Kenya. "What the government needs to do is to improve the facilities without going for major investments, because the port is the first impression that the tourists get of the country.”
