Don’t issue travel advisories, urges Kenya’s Chamber of commerce

The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCC) has urged foreign embassies not to issue travel advisories to their citizens in the wake of Riverside terror attack on Tuesday afternoon, in which 21 innocent lives were lost.

The Chamber’s national chairman Kiprono Kittony described the incident as an isolated case which had been brought under control – saying by issuing travel advisories, the country could lose immensely on its key sectors.

“To our development partners and friends, this is the time to stand with us. We should therefore not issue travel advisories as this could hurt our key sectors like tourism and ultimately the economy,” said Kittony while addressing journalists in Nairobi.

A travel advisory, sometimes referred to as travel warning or travel alert is an official cautionary statement issued by a government agency or embassy to provide information about safety of traveling to or visiting one or more specific foreign countries or destinations – and whose purpose is to enable travelers make an informed decision about a particular travel destination, which is meant to help travelers prepare effectively for what may be encountered on their trip.

As a result, travel and tourism as well as financial markets have ordinarily suffered a major setback during such happenings and often takes weeks, months and perhaps months to recover.

But as awareness and publicity on global terrorism continue to rise, markets have appeared to be more resilient and have come out to survive such threats, whose impacts economists have struggled over the years to quantify.

Travel and tourism for instance are among the country’s largest industries, accounting for about 15 per cent of the economy.

“We cannot at the moment quantify how much has been lost in the incident, but certainly businesses have suffered as a result,” said Kittony, who also proposed for a formation of a safety net fund or an emergency kitty to cover for losses incurred by businesses in the event of such incidences.

The country’s insurance industry players are still sluggish in broadening the definition of terrorism cover – something that has previously been cited as being critical in making sure that business victims are not left without protection in the future.