the latest update from Kenya....

"Kenya Situational Update as at 16.30 GMT 07 January 2008

Please find to follow an update from the Kenya Tourist Board to reflect the current position in Kenya with regards to the localised incidents that have taken place since the General Election results were announced.

o Although the situation remains the same in terms of Foreign & Commonwealth Office Travel Advisory, the many reports we have received from Kenya today have advised that the situation continues to be much calmer in all the key areas.
o The rallies planned to take place tomorrow have been cancelled and the political parties now appear to be moving towards negotiation to try to resolve the current political situation.
o The scheduled carriers, Kenya Airways, British Airways & Virgin Atlantic Airways are operating their daily schedules as normal from London Heathrow to Nairobi and from Nairobi International Airport to London Heathrow.
o All charter flights to Mombasa continue to operate departing flights as usual and as per timetable. Outbound legs are being flown empty whilst the FCO’s Travel Advisory is in place.
o The Foreign & Commonwealth Office Travel Advisory is being consistently updated and now includes references to the calming situation. This site should be referred to frequently. www.fco.gov.uk
o A ground update from the Kenya Tourism Federation (KTF) is as follows:

“Monday 7 January 2008
Nairobi
Once again there were no security problems at all in Nairobi and it was a normal Monday with busy traffic in the city centre and all offices and banks open as usual.
There were no problems for any tourist vehicles driving through the city, no delays, and all transfers to and from the airport and to the Nairobi hotels.

Mombasa
Everything is back to normal and there were no problems affecting tourists in any of the beach resorts or in Mombasa. The Likoni ferries are in operation as normal. Some tour operators have now re-introduced City Tours once again into Mombasa and all safaris and excursions out of Mombasa continue as usual. All transfers and safaris continue to operate from Mombasa.




Parks and Reserves
There were no reports of any problems anywhere in the parks, reserves or tourist routes. All national parks and reserves may be visited by road or air as normal. The daily scheduled services linking all the parks continue to operate as per the schedules.

Overall there is a feeling that things are quickly getting back to normal and calm has been restored.

There is now increased attention being given to people who were displaced by the unrest a week ago. The tourism industry is joining other organisations in supporting the Kenya Red Cross in providing food and shelter. There are adequate stocks of food and fuel in Kenya and transport services have resumed so that deliveries are being made to areas where supplies had been disrupted.

Throughout the period of civil unrest and even at the height of the problems when there was continual footage of riots on TV, no tourists were harmed in any way in spite of over 30,000 international tourists being in Kenya. The tourism industry ensured that there was close liaison and communication 24 hrs a day to avoid tourists being endangered. Now it appears that tensions are being calmed and that normality has returned. It is vital that travel advisories are softened to allow tourists to visit Kenya to avoid a collapse of tourism which would have a massive negative impact on the economy and the thousands of Kenyans earning a livelihood from tourism. It would be ironic if tourists stopped coming just as the situation returned to normal whereas all hotels were running full when the violent civil unrest took place immediately after the elections."