I have argued over time that Kenya is a grand country and as such should be driven by grandiose ideas. A while back, Deputy President William Ruto made a promise that the government will do whatever it can to ensure that the tourism numbers elevate Kenya to rank, in the tourism world, at a position commensurate to her beauty. Today, these sentiments remain a mirage. We are no longer are the preferred destination of tourists. Countries that hitherto played second fiddle to Kenya in tourism, and whose beauty is nothing compared to Kenya, are raking billions of dollars in every year. As a result, these countries are adding more jobs to the economy, while in Kenya, as a report by Serena Hotel recently showed, companies in the tourism industry are laying off people. The visit by Uhuru Kenyatta to the District of Columbia should not have come at a better time. Forget the politics of the visit and whether there will be a selfie moment with Obama. This trip represents the opportunity for those in charge of tourism to learn, to admit that it not insecurity that is to blame for the current predicament, and that despite the tough times that Kenya could be going through, there is no reason why Malaysia, Costa Rica among others should attract more tourists than Kenya. We can take, for instance, lessons from the American Auto industry and apply to our Tourism industry. In the 1980s, Japan was threatening to dominate the world of auto industry, something the Americans were not willing to see happen. America invested in research to understand why Japan cars sold more. They took Japan cars apart, compared every part to the American car, but still could not see any difference. They were wrong on all counts. One General Motors Executive, Alex Mair would give a detailed presentation on why Japanese cars were superior to GMs. He held up a connecting rod—the piece of metal in an engine that connects the piston to the crankshaft. The one made by GM was bulky and crudely shaped with big tabs on the ends. Workers assembling the engines would grind down those tabs so that the weight of the piston and rod assembly would be balanced. By contrast, the connecting rod made by Honda was smaller, thinner, and almost like a piece of sculpture. It didnt have ugly tabs on the end, because it was designed to be properly balanced right out of the forge. Mairs point was simple: If you pay careful attention to designing an elegant, lightweight connecting rod, then the engine will be lighter and quieter, the car around the engine can be more efficient, the brakes will have less mass to stop, and the engine will feel more responsive because it has less weight to move. Thats all it took, and the rest is history. This is what we need to do as a country; we must understand what is driving the tourism numbers up in other countries. We must visit those countries and make a detailed comparison. We cannot just in Nairobi and hope the situation will take care of itself.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 03:08:59 +0000
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