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Tourism » Tourism Example: Kenya

What you'll learn this session

Study time: 30 minutes

Cambridge spec: 9.3.5

Where Kenya is and why its tourism has grown
The benefits and problems tourism brings to Kenya
The strategies and techniques used to manage tourism sustainably
How to evaluate them, so you can write a 6-mark answer

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Kenya: the example

Kenya is a country in East Africa. It sits on the Equator, with the Indian Ocean on its east coast and the capital, Nairobi, inland. It is a middle-income country, and tourism is one of its biggest earners.

1977: hunting of game animals is banned, so wildlife is worth more alive, to watch.
1989: the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is set up to protect wildlife and run national parks.
1996: the Il Ngwesi community lodge opens in Laikipia.
2002: Ecotourism Kenya launches its eco-rating scheme.
2024: a record of about 2.4 million international visitors, earning about KSh 452 billion (Kenyan shillings).

Reasons for the growth of tourism

🦁 Wildlife safaris

Visitors come to see lions, elephants and the Great Migration of over a million wildebeest, which crosses the Maasai Mara between about July and October. Amboseli is famous for its elephants, with Mount Kilimanjaro behind them.

🏖 Beaches and warm climate

Mombasa and Diani have white sand beaches and warm sea. Temperatures are warm all year because Kenya is on the Equator.

Cheaper and easier travel: more flights and lower fares make Nairobi and Mombasa easier to reach from Europe and North America.
Government promotion: the Kenya Tourism Board markets the country abroad under the name "Magical Kenya".
Culture: visitors want to see Maasai and Swahili culture, and Mombasa's Fort Jesus.

Benefits of tourism in Kenya

Jobs: the government says more than a million people work directly in tourism, as guides, drivers, hotel staff and craft sellers.
Foreign exchange: the KSh 452 billion earned in 2024 is one of the country's main sources of foreign money.
Share of GDP: tourism makes up about 8% of Kenya's GDP. Estimates vary between about 7% and 10%, depending on what is counted.
Conservation funding: park fees and lodge income pay for rangers and protect habitats.

Problems caused by tourism in Kenya

💰 Economic

Leakage: some money goes to foreign-owned hotels and tour companies. Many jobs are seasonal, so workers have no income in the low season. Security fears have caused falls in visitors.

🌿 Environmental and social

Environmental: safari vehicles crowd round animals and drive off the tracks, damaging soil and grass. Social: Maasai people have lost grazing land to reserves and some feel left out of the income.

Security is a real worry. Attacks between 2011 and 2015, including the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi in 2013, led some governments to warn their citizens against travelling. Visitor numbers fell sharply, and coastal hotels were hit hardest.

Strategies and techniques to manage tourism sustainably

Sustainable tourism in Kenya means earning money from visitors without harming wildlife, land or Maasai communities, so future generations can benefit too. The strategies are the action plans and agreements (parks, conservancy leases, eco-rating). The techniques are the methods (tent limits, vehicle limits, staying on tracks).

National parks and the KWS: the KWS runs the parks, employs rangers, and charges entry fees. Park fees fund conservation.
Conservancies: around the Maasai Mara there are about 24 conservancies on land owned by over 15,000 Maasai landowners. Camps lease the land and pay rent and a fee for each visitor. The landowners keep their land and get a steady income.
Limits on numbers: conservancies allow only a few tents per area of land. In the Mara reserve, no more than five vehicles may be at a predator sighting, and they must stay on tracks.
Community ecolodges: Il Ngwesi is owned and run by about 7,000 Maasai. Income pays for a school, a clinic and bursaries, and cattle were moved off some land so wildlife could return.
Eco-rating: Ecotourism Kenya awards lodges Bronze, Silver or Gold for waste, energy, water and benefits to local people.

Evaluation

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths: local people share the money, wildlife has space, and the ideas are copied in other areas. Weaknesses: the Mara reserve still gets crowded in migration season, the rules are hard to enforce, and conservancy income does not always reach every family. Eco-rating is voluntary, so lodges can ignore it. Cost and who benefits: camps pay rent and fees, but parks and rangers cost the government money. Landowners, community lodges and wildlife gain most. Families without land can miss out. Overall: the strategies are fairly sustainable, because they protect land and give people a reason to protect wildlife. They work best where landowners are paid fairly and numbers are controlled.

Worked example

Question: give one problem of tourism in Kenya and one way it is managed. Answer: leakage means some money goes abroad (problem). Conservancies near the Mara lease land from Maasai landowners and pay them rent, so more of the money stays local (management).

Common mistakes

Writing about tourism in general instead of Kenya. Name places (Maasai Mara, Amboseli, Diani, Il Ngwesi) and give a figure. Another mistake is listing management ideas without saying whether they work.

Exam-style question

Study the example of tourism in Kenya.

(a) State two reasons for the growth of tourism in Kenya. [2]

(b) Describe one problem caused by tourism in the Maasai Mara. [2]

(d) Evaluate the strategies used to manage tourism sustainably in Kenya. [6]

Model answer

(a) Wildlife safaris such as the Great Migration (1). Beaches and warm climate at Mombasa and Diani (1).
(b) Safari vehicles crowd round animals and drive off tracks (1), which damages the soil and grass and disturbs wildlife (1).
(c) Landowners lease land to camps and are paid rent (1), so local people benefit (1). Tent numbers are limited (1), so wildlife keeps space and habitats are protected for the future (1).
(d) Conservancies pay Maasai landowners and limit tents, which gives people a reason to protect wildlife. Il Ngwesi shows a community can own a lodge and use income for a school and clinic. However, the Mara reserve is still crowded in the migration, the rules are hard to enforce, and eco-rating is voluntary. Overall the strategies are fairly sustainable because land is protected and people gain, but they need stronger limits on vehicles and fairer sharing of income. (Levels: 1 to 2 marks for a list of ideas, 3 to 4 for explained strengths and weaknesses, 5 to 6 for a balanced judgement using Kenyan places and figures.)

Exam tip

For "Evaluate", give at least one strength, one weakness and a final judgement about Kenya, using place names.

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