SPACES has been investigating ecosystem services and their contribution to poverty alleviation in Kenya and Mozambique since 2013. One part of this project has looked at tourism in the South Coast region of Kenya. From 2013-2015 Kenya had terrorism related travel advisories. SPACES co-investigator, Chris Sandbrook, analysed tourism data from 2011-2015 to understand how the terrorism attacks and the associated travel advisory effected the tourism industry and how the industry was able to cope with the shock. The data was collected by Chris Cheupe and provided by Judith Nyunja, Mwanamisi Mkungu, and Roy Muga from the KWS. A brief entitled, “Tourism at the Kisite-Mpunguti Marine National Park 2011-2015: A story of change and resilience” has been produced and will be presented to the KWS.

Key Messages from the KWS brief:

• There was a significant decline in visitors to the Kisite-Mpunguti Marine National Park after the 2013 terrorist attacks. Foreign tourist numbers declined much […]