East Africa: $8 million to boost safari lodge development

Kenya’s Tourism Finance Corporation (TFC) will offer Ksh800 million (roughly $8 million) loans to investors to build lodges in the country’s national parks, which lack accommodation.

TFC Managing Director, Jonah Orumoi, said the Corporation would start to give loans to tourism investors by the end of October for them to construct lodges in the parks.

Parks lacking accommodation facilities include Lake Turkana National Park, Kakamega National Reserve and Marsabit National Park.

Orumoi said the government’s aim was to ensure that all the national parks have accommodation facilities for tourists to stay while on safari. “Lack of accommodation in some of the national parks has greatly inconvenienced tourists coming to the country for game viewing,” he said. “We want investors to take advantage of the loans so that they can build facilities in the parks to cater for holidaymakers.”

Orumoi also said the funds would be loaned to entrepreneurs to establish an amusement park and an aquarium in Nairobi. Ksh10 billion has also been secured from the government for the formation of a Hotel Refurbishment Fund. From early next year, loans will be offered to hotel-owners to refurbish establishments which have not been renovated for many years.

So far, he added, TFC has received loan applications of Ksh2.6 billion from hoteliers intending to renovate their hotels.

Orumoi called on hotel-owners from the Kenya coast to apply for the loans for them to upgrade their establishments.

Sourse: tourismupdate.co.za