COUNTY HOSTS NEWLY ELECTED REGIONAL TOURISM OFFICIALS

The newly elected Lake Victoria Tourism Association (LVTA) officials Tuesday held a consultative meeting with senior Kakamega County Government officers from the Ministry of Trade, Industrialization and Tourism led by the CECM Mr. Alfred Matianyi where they discussed ways of enhancing partnership with the aim of growing tourism in the Lake region.

The meeting that also served as a familiarisation tour of Kakamega County by the officials, since being elected in office on 3rd December 2020 for a period of three years, highlighted some of the areas the two (County Government and LVTA) can also partner to ensure enhanced marketing of tourism in the region as well as product development.

Speaking during the meeting held at Golf hotel, Kakamega, Mr. Matianyi congratulated them for being elected to serve the region’s tourism and hospitality players. Mr. Matianyi said the tourism sector is a huge source of revenue with a potential of creating massive employment opportunities.

“As a Government, we want to capitalise on the fast growing domestic tourism to market Kakamega as a tourist destination,” he said.

He revealed that the department will be hosting a Tourism and Cultural fete to showcase the County’s potential in the sector and welcomed participation from the other Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB) member counties.

County Head of Tourism Mr. Stephen Musee said the public-private sector partnership will boost community based tourism. The County Government of Kakamega, he noted, has been engaged in various initiatives to develop the industry among them product development, preparation and dissemination of tourism promotional materials as well as a continuous public-private collaboration.

LVTA Chairperson Mr. Robinson Anyal said his association’s goal is to bring together all the LREB member counties with an objective of forming a formidable bloc in the tourism and hospitality industry.

Earlier on, the team toured Ilesi Pottery and the Crying Stone of Ilesi in Shinyalu Sub-County.

In attendance were Tourism Officer Mr. Kassim Ndeche and the LVTA Vice Chairperson Rev. William Ouya who is also the Chairperson Kakamega County Hoteliers Association Chairman.