The Effects Of Tourism In Kenya

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The Effects of Tourism in Kenya

GCSE Humanities Coursework

Introduction

Kenya lies on the east coast of Africa. It is bordered by five countries and the Indian Ocean. It is 1 degree north of the equator and has a land mass of 582,650 square metres. Over 32 million people live in Kenya and the main language is Swahili (Fig 1).

Figure 1 – Map of Kenya, to scale

Kenya has many varied attractions. One of the biggest attractions is the opportunity to see the amazing range of wildlife on the grassland areas called Savannah. It is home to such animals as elephants, lions, cheetahs, zebras, giraffes, hippos and crocodiles. This has attracted big game hunters, zoologists, and lovers of wildlife who want to see the ‘big five – elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and rhino’ on safari.

Another tourist attraction is the mountainous areas which include 5,199m tall Mt. Kenya, which has glaciers at the top (Fig 2). This attracts experienced climbers, geologists, scientists, trekkers, walkers and even white water rafting enthusiasts who travel to Kenya when the glaciers melt to enjoy the fast rushing water. A series of lakes in the Great Rift Valley including Lake Victoria and Lake Turkana are inhabited by flamingoes, hippos and rhinos, and bring lovers of wildlife to its shores.  

The coastline is another main area of attraction. The coast borders the Indian Ocean and has brought holiday makers to its white sandy beaches and warm, clear waters, where coral reefs team with life (Fig 3). Just behind the coast there are both coastal forests and inland forests. These boast not only a rare and varied species of plants and trees but a wide range of reptiles and wildlife which attracts botanists.

Kenya does not only attract lovers of wildlife and people who love the ‘coastal holiday’ breaks. Kenya also has a rich, varied and eventful history. Cities such as Nairobi and Mombasa have a range of different cultures, traditions and architecture for tourists to explore and experience.

It is this varied landscape and variety of wildlife, history, cultures, customs and traditions which has encouraged tourism in Kenya. In the last century overseas visitors came to Kenya for big game hunting and after Independence from Britain in 1963, the government realised the enormous potential of the ‘tourist industry’, encouraging local and foreign entrepreneurs to invest in tourism in Kenya, making it the most popular tourist destination in Africa.  

In this article, I aim to determine whether the influence of tourism on Kenya has been beneficial in the country’s development, and to see if there is any way of sustainable tourism that will avoid damage to the environment, economy and the cultures, so that Kenya’s natural resources can be preserved.

Maasai Mara

Kenya has 43 national parks. The Maasai Mara lies in the Great Rift Valley and borders Tanzania. It is named the Maasai Mara after the Maasai tribe, who inhabit the area (Fig 4), and the Mara River which runs through the middle. The terrain is mostly grassland, and Acacia trees can be seen in the south-east region. The western border tends to have the biggest concentration of wildlife as there is swampy ground which means that the animals and wildlife always have access to water. This also means that disruption from tourists is minimised as the swampy ground is inaccessible. The Maasai Mara is not the biggest game reserve in Kenya, the area is 1510km2, but it is the most famous, as there are about 1.3 million wildebeest and about 250,000 zebra and many tourists go to see the annual spectacle of the migration of thousands of wildebeests. Tourists also come for the black rhino, a species threatened with extinction from poaching. Wikipedia states that in 2000, there was a recorded population of only 37.

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Figure 4 – Maasai Warrior

The key use of the Maasai Mara is for tourists who come to seek the “safari experience”. This has bought many advantages for Kenya. As well as building hotels, money had to be spent in the development of other areas such as agriculture, transport and communications. This included the improvement of hospitals and public utilities such as electricity supplies and telephone systems. This was to cater for the numbers of tourists. These improvements, as well as benefiting the tourists, have also benefited the locals. Tourism has provided direct and indirect employment for ...

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