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International TourismCase Study… KENYA

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Kenya

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Tanzania

Sudan

Mt Kenya

Nairobi

Indian Ocean

Lake Turkana

Mt Elgon

Ethiopia

Somalia

Great Rift Valley

Uganda

Maasai Mara

Amboseli Tsavo

Kenya – map of the game reserves

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Tourism in Southern Kenya

Nairobi

Mombasa

Tsavo

Amboseli

Maasai Mara

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What attracts tourists to Kenya?

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Numbers of Tourists to Kenya

19641972198019881996

61,000286,000438,000612,000992,000

Why has the number of tourists visiting Kenya increased in the last forty years?

Tourism in Kenya

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Look at the following slides that indicate the impact of tourism on the Kenyan game parks.

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A typical safari holiday…Day 1 Arrive at Nairobi Airport and transfer to hotel.Day 2 Drive west to the Serena Mara Lodge in the Maasai Mara…it is built in African- style with a thatched roof. Enjoy cocktails on the terrace while looking over the glade.Day 3 Drive thorough the Mara in the jeeps

and see buffalo, rhinoceros, elephants, birds, etc.

Day 4 More game viewing with chance to see some of the more unusual species.

Day 5 Visit the Maasai .Day 6 View the big game animals from a hot

air balloon on your last day at the lodge. Enjoy your last evening with dancing from the Maasai.Day 7 Return to Nairobi.

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What impact does tourism have on the animals within the

game parks?

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‘Like several others, my camp (Maasai Mara) made a special effort to encourage leopards to appear. Every night, one of the guards crosses the river, using a small footbridge, and hangs meat on a tree. One leopard, clearly more interested in fast food than searching for dinner, regularly retrieves it…’

The Independent Jan 2000

Why does the guard put meat over the river?What impact does his practice have on the leopards?

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Animals are protected from

hunting within the game reserves.

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Jeeps often gather around the big game animals.

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What impact does tourism have on the vegetation and soil within the game parks?

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The Maasai are often visited on the tourist trail in the Maasai Mara. The tourists have the opportunity to purchase souvenirs, such as beads, from the Maasai.

The Maasai are nomadic herders (i.e. they travel from one watering hole to another with their cattle). However, they have been moved from their grazing lands several times to make way for European farmers. Their movements have also been restricted by the game parks set up by the government in the 1950s. In fact, the Maasai Mara was part of the Massai’s original land. Many of the Maasai have had no choice but to settle down.

The Maasai

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Advantages and disadvantages of tourism to Kenya

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This is Tsavo – a game park that encourages low density ‘ecotourism’.

How is this type of tourism is more beneficial to the environment than the ‘lodge’ hotels in Amboseli or the Maasai Mara?