Meeting with CS Balala
CS Balala hosted a breakfast meeting for industry CEO’s which discussed the various areas of intervention required to mitigate Covid-19 matters. We also discussed the multiple number of licenses payable by the industry and agreed to present a memo with all our concerns which will in turn be presented to the government through Cabinet.
Meeting with CS Sports
We held a meeting with CS Amina Mohammed, PS Joe Okudo, the Chairlady of Kepsa and discussed the hosting of the just concluded IAAF Junior Championships. All the events at various Nairobi hotels went well and made us proud to be part of the development of sports tourism. CS Amina committed to bidding for more sporting events in Kenya so that they can supplement our tourism source markets.
DSTV Launch
The undersigned presided over a launch by DSTV which was geared towards providing better services to the hospitality industry. DSTV has developed packages that are more customer focused and friendly for our special needs.
KEPSA/KRA Round Table
Through KEPSA, we were part of a meeting with the KRA top management and discussed the challenges that we face with KRA which they promised to look into. We will share their response once they finalize internal consultations.
KTF AGM
KTF held it’s AGM and Mohammed Hersi retired from the Chairmanship, a position that was taken up by Fred Odek of KATO. Mohammed will continue to serve on the KTF board as immediate past Chairman.
EATP Board Meeting
We held a board meeting of the East African Tourism Platform and discussed strategies for increasing business from the region. One of our main recommendations was that we look towards uniform Covid protocols for East Africa as this will assist in pushing business within the region.
Ministry of Tourism Budget for 2021/2022
We met the budget team from the Ministry of Tourism to discuss their budgetary mid-term review. We recommended that the stimulus package that was given to our industry last year, should become an annual feature of the budget for the next few years.
KEPSA/Parliament Meeting
Again, through Kepsa, we held a meeting the leader of the majority in Parliament, the Hon Dr. Amos Kimunya together with heads of parliamentary committees to discuss the various laws that are pending passage. Of great interest to us is the NHIF Bill which proposes to increase contributions by employees and also introduces a similar contribution by employers. Our recommendation is that employers are already overburdened by levies and that the employer portion should be done away with.
Technical Committee on Development of Digital Tourism Standards and Tour Driver Guides & Hotel Employees Accommodation Standards
The Association participated in the drafting of standards on digital tourism and driver guides & hotel employees accommodation standards. These standards will be subjected to the stakeholders for their comments, and thereafter TRA will sensitize the industry on the documents before implementation is done. We will keep you updated on the progress of these standards
Training of Quality Assurance Auditors for the Quality Tool
Following the pretesting of the Audit tool that is aimed to check the quality of standards in Accommodation and Catering establishments, TRA carried out a one-week training for an additional eighteen of its Officers who will be charged with the responsibility of assessing the level of compliance of standards in the facilities. Dr. Leah Ng’ang’a, a certified EAC Hotel Assessor represented the Association and trained the team on the area of Food safety, Human Resource Management and Safety and Security in Hotels. In total TRA has trained a total of 38 officers who will be charged with the responsibility of auditing accommodation and catering establishments.
Mid-Term Review of TRA Strategic Plan (2018-2022) Stakeholders Validation Workshop
The Association participated in a one day workshop aimed at updating and charting the way forward on the implementation of the plan. TRA has reviewed its plan with the aim of conforming to the changes in the operating environment in light of the unprecedented COVID crisis situation, in order to enable them to meet their mandate.
Submission on Recognition of Prior Learning
The Association participated in a session, by the Ministry of Education, to make its submission on the formulation and implementation of the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) framework for the country.
The policy framework on RPL seeks to bring into the national database numerous skills, knowledge and competencies that are currently contributing to national development but have not been very well understood, articulated, documented and recognized. This policy aims at developing and implementing a more flexible, efficient recognition framework founded on the realization that not all learning takes place in formal classes and laboratories but also in informal setting such as on the job training.