Watamu hotels ready for festivities but access to the beach for others blocked by stalls ups 

Tourism stakeholders in the Watamu area in Kilifi County have expressed their preparedness for the December festivities as hotels record 70 per cent of bookings.

However, despite the high bookings, some hoteliers are complaining of the blocking of their beach fronts by stalls and are urging the Ministry of Tourism and the Kilifi County government to intervene and relocate the stalls and open up the beach areas.

A spot check revealed that most hotels in the area were teeming with guests while some had bookings beyond December 20 full.

At Lion Beach Resort, a four-star facility with 65 rooms, already 50 rooms have been booked with more inquiries coming in every day.

According to the resort’s local manager Ignas Mchana, the hotel boosts the coastal ambience and that all their guest are Italians.

“The bookings area is ready for the hotel and inquiries still come in every day and from today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow we will have arrivals,” he said.

He, however, complained about the limited access to the Blue Lagoon beach after stalls have blocked access.

“We have guests coming in and our challenge is the beach because when the guests come in, they request to go to the beach because this is a beach hotel unfortunately, we can’t access the beach. We have tried to contact the authorities involved to help us open up the beach space and we are waiting for a response,” he said.

He also said that Lion Beach Resort has 75 per cent of the rooms at a sea viewpoint but there are structures right in front of the rooms and directly on the beach hence they interfere with the beach tourism notion.

“If they can fast-track the process so that at least we have the beach ready for us then it will be better for us because the guests immediately arrive they want to be at the beach and we ask the relevant authorities to help us in this,” he added.

His sentiments were echoed by Mr Carlo Saputo who said that blockage to the beach may end up ruining the beach tourism experience in the area.

He now wants relevant government agencies to order the pulling down of all structures along the beach fronts in the area.

“I have the problem only with accessing the beach because I have a construction in front of the hotel and some of my clients who are arriving on 20th December want to be at the beach when they arrive and I even got assurance from the authorities that the structures at the beach will be pulled down but they are still there,” he said.