Abstract:
This research project sought to reveal the role of the Kenya government towards sustainable development of tourism. It specifically sought to examine what the government had done, is doing or was planning to do, towards development of sustainable tourism. The researcher addressed the problem of sustainable tourism development in Kenya, focusing his attention on what the Kenya government had done or was doing to reverse the negative trends that seem to have hit hard on Kenya's leading foreign exchange-earner. The methodology applied in this research relied mainly on review of secondary data sources including books, journals and magazines. In most cases, data was analyzed manually and where applicable, presented in the form of tables. The major findings were that approximately 10% of the country had been set aside for conservation of wildlife and biodiversity and that it was necessary to effect sustainable tourism development to protect this wildlife and biodiversity conservation area. Further, sustainable tourism development was seen to enhance job creation, with well over 219,000 people currently deriving their livelihood from tourism, and with employment in the tourism sector expected to grow to 328,00 persons in 2005 and to 431,000 persons in 2010. Sustainable tourism development was also found to contribute a great deal towards training and development with the revelation that currently, Kenyan technical training institutions, colleges and universities generate about 7,800 trainees annually. This study found that the Kenya government was playing several roles towards sustainable tourism development. It revealed that the government was in charge of providing the necessary infrastructure, with annual inbound air passengers to Kenya totaling around 777,000 and some 109,000 passengers, (equivalent to 14% of the total) entering the country by chartered flights. The major recommendation is that tourism development in protected areas should take into account the limitations of the capacity of the natural, social and cultural environment of accommodate visitors.