The tourism industry has been one of the sectors hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that the pandemic has presented the most difficult time in the era of modern tourism. In view of this, Strathmore University School of Tourism and Hospitality, in collaboration with the County Government of Narok and the media, is conduction a Tourism Recovery project, from July 14 to 17, with a focus on the Masai Mara Game Reserve.

The project will be undertaken through fieldwork and stakeholder involving policymakers, the tourism private sector, conservation stakeholders, civil societies and local community representatives from the Mara Triangle, to discuss immediate approaches to enhance tourism resilience in the reserve.

The Masai Mara is a unique wildlife conservation haven, famous for its spectacular natural diversity of wildlife. It also is a premier Safari Rally location in East Africa. In addition, over 14,000 landowners benefit from the lease of land under community conservancies; they have been largely affected by the impacts of Covid-19 in diverse ways. The goals of this project are to;

1. Enhance awareness on critical factors for tourism recovery and sustainability during and the post-pandemic period;
2. Explore the socio-economic vulnerabilities of indigenous communities to COVID-19 in Masai Mara to inform strategies to enhance participation;
3. Highlight the adaptive approaches and lessons learned for resilience;
4. Examine the impact of COVID-19 on conservation management of the destination.

The project will employ a novel approach integrating Science and Journalism to engage the stakeholders and to tell the story of tourism recovery and sustainability as a result of the impact of Covid-19 on tourism and conservation. During the workshop, the project will develop strategic and collective approaches to enhancing tourism recovery and sustainability in the Masai Mara Game Reserve with potential replication to other destinations.

The project will produce a video documentary, a policy brief for conservation-decision making and research article. The brief will be shared with the county government, civil society and the tourism private sector in the region while the media production and video documentary will be shared through popular media including TV and in social media channels. The media materials will be freely available for all stakeholders involved and the wider East African community.

 

Follow daily updates on the University social media handles.

 

Watch the Project Brief here.

 

For more details, you can contact the project manager on vmuniu@strathmore.edu.

 

This article was written by Rose Njuguna and Veronica Muniu. 

 

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