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In Kenya the Travel Foundation has funded two external projects.
Kenya is a diverse country, with many different cultures including the Swahili on the coast, pastoralist communities in the north, and several different communities in the central and western regions. Today, the Maasai culture is well known, due to its heavy exposure from tourism although it is only a minor tribe. The Maasai are known for adorning their upper bodies and the jewellery they wear. Kenya has considerable land area of wildlife habitat, including the Maasai Mara. Developing & Marketing a Sustainable Maasai Village Tourism Experience in Kenya
In 2006 the Travel Foundation began funding a new project in Kenya with Tribal Voice Communications.
The project aimed to work with villagers from cultural manyattas in the Western end of the Maasai game reserve to develop a sustainable, responsible, marketable, tourism experience by:
 Completed in late 2007, the project has been successful in overturning over 30 years of exploitation of the Maasai tribe by Kenya’s driver guides, in this ground breaking new initiative. After working with villagers from 5 cultural manyattas in the Mara Triangle, along with tour operators and ground handlers in Kenya, a new, transparent, ticketing and payment system for cultural visits to manyattas has been put in place.The Kenya Association of Tour Operators (KATO) has put the full weight of its support behind the new initiative. Fred Kaigua, KATO Chief Executive, commented… “All too often, tourism is wrongly perceived not to be of any benefit to local communities. This is largely due to the way the revenues are utilised once accrued. We applaud this initiative by Tribal Voice Communications Ltd as it will go a long way towards making a direct impact not only on the lives of those it touches, but also on the visitor experience and product quality”.
Impacts include:
1. Significantly increased benefits from tourism accruing to the local community (800% increase on the same period last year) and more equitable sharing of benefits (community now receives 100% of tour fees from lodge-generated business, and 75% of tour operator
generated business through KATO).  2. Increased visitor satisfaction with excursions (100% of clients surveyed via the visitor survey said that the excursions met or exceeded their expectations), and increased cultural exchange (as evidenced by visitor survey results and format of newly developed, participatory cultural tours in the villages).3. All lodges now brief their clients on the do’s and don’ts when visiting the villages to minimise their impacts, along with these being published on the back of visitor entry tickets.
4. Other communities (Maasai villages on the Narok side of the Mara) and community tourism development organisations (SEMADEP, Ecotourism Kenya) have already taken on board the lessons learnt from this pilot project and are adopting them in their own work with communities.
5. The current cultural tourism product has been enhanced and new product developed that gives these villages a marketing edge and increased visitor satisfaction at the same time.
6. Villagers are empowered and have the skills, tools and knowledge to operate their tourism businesses on a sustainable basis into the future.
7. The excursions are now marketed by the lodges and tour operators in Nairobi and Mombasa, with formal supply agreements now in place.
8. Villagers now, for the first time in over 30 years of running tourism businesses, feel that they are part of the tourism industry in Kenya.
9. The villages are already seeing the fruits of the increased benefits from tourism – Enkereri village has expanded its community school to 2 classrooms and has now employed 3 teachers. They have also started adult education classes, built long drop toilets, constructed a rain water harvesting system, commissioned a survey to assess the potential for the construction of a borehole in the village, and sent 2 of their bright young stars to college for further education.
A final report has been produced which highlights the lessons learnt in turning around a failing community-tourism venture. Aimed at disseminating best practice in this area for use by other community projects/destinations. Click here to read the lessons learned report for this project
Many media articles have been published on the project (both online and offline), along with its inclusion in a BBC2 primetime documentary entitled ‘Should We Really Give Up Flying’.
Importantly, dissemination to other Maasai villages in Kenya has already begun and TVC and representatives from Enkereri village are already sharing the lessons learnt from this project with the 20 Maasai villages running cultural tours on the Narok side of the Mara.
If UK tour operators and their ground handlers in Kenya would like to begin marketing responsible excursions to Maasai villages in the Mara Triangle, they can purchase visitor entry tickets for the 5 villages in the initiative direct from the KATO office in Nairobi, with the assurance that this income will be retained by the villagers. For more information on the initiative, and to get involved, contact: Dr Cheryl Mvula on cdmvula@aol.com.
Five villages (41 families, 520 people!) - earned 800% more income from tourism in just four months!
13 families – 165 people - have access to clean water and sanitation in the village of Enkereri.
300 children now have the opportunity to go to school.
 The Ujamaa community market close to Mombasa is now open for group excursions following their successful launch in August. The market works with local crafts people from villages in and around Mombasa, providing an opportunity for small scale producers to increase their income and improve livelihoods, while at the same time offering tourists an alternative tour experience to the usual beach/safari option. By working and selling directly at the market, crafts people can cut out the middlemen and sell their products for a fair price. All products made and sold at the market are made from recycled, re-used materials such as
 coke cans, wire, plastic bottles and plant fibres such as coconut, palm, papyrus, water hyacinth, baobab, mango, jacaranda and driftwood. Tourists can buy at the market and help support the recycling of some of the waste that they, as tourists, help to produce. Click on the scrap book to the right to view some of the products.The manager of the new market is keen to develop links with major UK tour operators and to work with them on the development of an excursion to ensure that it meets customer needs. Market days will be organised between operators and the market manager to ensure that all tour groups can benefit from visiting the market during their stay in Mombasa. The current Market day is Friday.
Email Patrick Ochieng for details of excurions
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