Kenya has no shortage of alternative tourist attractions

In one of my articles last week, I got lots of flak for suggesting that Dundori in Nyandarua County should be a tourist attraction based on its myths, like checking the gender of the car. 

Yet tourists are attracted to places and willing to pay more because of emotions than because of what they see. It’s more like relationships. Have you ever fallen in love?

Think of Alcatraz, a prison in California, which President Donald Trump has often talked about. There is a movie and a myth around it.  

Think of Kamiti Maximum Prison becoming a tourist attraction; that is “thinking without a box.”  

By the way, Mau Mau detainees were imprisoned on Mageta Island on Lake Victoria. Did Alcatraz inspire that? Yet, on my last visit to Mageta, nothing remains of the prison!

Pyramids are graves! Why can’t we turn Lang’ata into a tourist attraction? Remember Commonwealth Graves?

I am still looking for remnants of moats around villages during Mau Mau. Have we not dug up fossils of Zinjanthropus and made careers out of them? 

What takes us to Mombasa? It’s not the sandy beaches; it’s the emotions that go with seeing the ocean and beaches. Even stories of jinns and cats add to the allure of the coast. Don’t we look for the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland? 

What are other low-lying fruits? We pay to get to the top of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Why don’t we have such observation decks at Upper Hill’s tall buildings like Old Mutual or Britam Towers? Why are golf courses not marketed as tourist attractions?

What of tea and coffee tasting? Don’t we go wine tasting in South Africa and elsewhere? Do the wineries have golf courses? Why not build some premium golf courses inside the huge tea or pineapple plantations? 

How about our foods: mukimo, musenye, kimanga, muthokoi, injera, milk mixed with blood and mursik? Why boast of eating pizza when there are tastier local delicacies and healthier ones?

Add our local brew. I sampled umqombothi in Zululand. Remember the song by Yvonne Chaka Chaka?  

What of our deserts in the north and Mambrui? Why go on desert trips in Dubai when we have them here? Think of Ugandans or those in the DR Congo who have no deserts. Why fly over our deserts to Dubai?

We have oversold the Big Five! And familiarity breeds contempt; we are too used to our environment to see its tourism potential.

The homes and schools of our former presidents should be tourist attractions. Think of Moi’s, Kibaki’s and Kenyatta’s homes. These leaders are “national property.”

Who talks of the Great Rift Valley and its lakes? Who talks of scenic routes like through the Happy Valley or Kerio Valley? Have you taken a ride from Machakos to Wote? What beautiful scenery! 

Driven through the Mwea rice pad, we have no signage for attractive places, rivers, or towns. No one talks of coastal oxbow lakes, except in geography.  

What of our ceremonies like ngurario, ntheo and koito? And where did the Masai land when they came from the sky? Create a place if none exists! dies? Did you stop to admire them? Curiously, there are no viewpoints. Familiarity again!

We have no signage for attractive places, rivers, and towns. No one talks of coastal oxbow lakes, except in geography.  

What of our ceremonies like ngurario, ntheo and koito? And where did the Masai land when they came from the sky? Create a place if none exists! 

Our universities and institutions should be great attractions. Noticed the buses at the National Museum? Why not at the University of Nairobi (UoN) or Starehe Boys Centre? 

In many countries, parliament buildings are big tourist attractions. I recall sitting inside the parliament of Serbia and Ontario. 

Why not even ride on stereotypes? Why is Kitise Mwiso wa Ndia not a popular destination in Makueni? 

Why can’t we visit Gaturi in Murang’a to see its urogi (witchcraft)? Where can I see kithitu or kamuti in Kitui?  

We can be more creative! Think of border counties like Mandera, Turkana or Migori, which neighbour two countries. Add other border counties. They should invite us to “go abroad.”  

The biggest handicap in developing tourism is its view as “elitist.” Visiting another village in Kenya is not tourism, unless one is a mzungu. Who said you must have a car with an open roof to visit new places, including national parks? 

Every county has something to sell, but we are blinded by familiarity. One option is to have all the County Executive Committee (CEC) members in charge of tourism come from outside their county of birth.

For instance, the one for Homa Bay should be from Wajir, which, in turn, gets one from, say, Laikipia. They will see tourism potential, away from familiarity.  

Tourism is a low-hanging economic fruit; we just need to repackage what we have, and money will come flowing.

Human curiosity and sense of adventure are limitless; let’s make money from them. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Google are online avenues for human adventure.

Tourism is the same but real! To counties, package what you have; we shall come visiting with our money and curiosity.