VOA常速英语2008年-Tourists Still Scarce on Kenya's Coast

By Derek Kilner
Nairobi
03 March 2008

The wave of political violence that followed Kenya's disputed presidential election in December has had devastating² consequences for the country's tourism industry. While the country has returned to relative calm in recent weeks, and the country's president and opposition³ leader recently signed a power-sharing agreement, the tourism industry faces a long road to recovery. For VOA, Derek Kilner has more from Nairobi.

Western countries have relaxed their travel advisories⁴ for Kenya's coast, which accounts for about two-thirds of tourism revenue, and a few charter flights have resumed ferrying European tourists to the resorts. But hotels that had expected to be nearly full in February and March are still at occupancy rates of 10 to 15 percent. Some 20 hotels have closed down.

Last year was a record year for Kenya's tourism industry, accounting⁵ for 15 percent of GDP. This year was forecast to be better still, with revenue of around $1 billion. But post-election violence that has killed more than 1,000 people is expected to put a dent¹ in tourism revenue.

The Kenya Tourist Board forecasts that arrivals for the first quarter of this year will be down by 90 percent, costing the industry nearly $80 million a month.

In front of the upmarket hotels that dot Nyali beach north of Mombasa, rows of deck chairs still lie empty, if they have been set out at all. And the vendors⁶ selling wood carvings⁷ or brightly colored fabric⁸ greatly outnumber the tourists on the palm-lined sand.

Craft salesman Jacob Munywoki, says that most of the tourists still around are regular visitors to Kenya who have already bought their share of souvenirs on previous trips.

"December, there were many tourists here," he said. "Per day, I was selling about four times or five times. But from the 30th up to now, I do not sell anything. The guests who are here are the repeaters who come every year same month. So they do not buy anything because they are here up to 15 years."

The Kenya Tourist Board's most recent estimates put the number of jobs lost in the industry at around 20,000, though the figure does not include many of the workers in the informal sector⁹ or the many businesses that indirectly¹⁰ depend on tourism.

On Nyali beach, many vendors have stayed around, despite the lack of business. Chris Motemi works as a craft salesman during the high season, usually saving enough to spend part of the year back home.

"I normally work from September to March. When the rain starts I go home for three months," he said. "I make good money to stay for three months there. This year, I do not think I will be able."

The current crisis is only the latest setback¹¹ to hit Kenya's tourism industry. In 1997, tribal¹² clashes near Mombasa - again during election time - brought the tourism industry to a halt. The following year the U.S. embassy was the target of a terrorist bomb attack.

Terror-related travel advisories from Western nations and an attack on an Israeli-owned hotel on the coast in 2002 kept tourists away.

Kuldip Sondhi, chairman of the Mombasa and Coast Tourist Association, and owner of the Reef Hotel on Nyali beach, says the industry had only in the last few years gotten back on its feet.

"The first crisis was in 1997 and that took six years for us to recover. Recovery in this industry really started in about 2004-2005," Sondhi said. "2006, 2007 every year our income was increasing by about 20 percent. So we were really bouncing along very well indeed, and this thing came."

The current crisis is by most accounts the worst the industry has ever faced.

Sondhi says that even if the political solution holds, there is little prospect¹³ for a significant recovery before October at the earliest. Tourism, particularly on the coast, is dependent on package vacations and charter flights, many of which are booked far in advance.

In the meantime, vacations have been diverted to other destinations. The Kenya Tourist Boards' research and development director, Kennedy Manyalla, says several countries in the region stand to profit from Kenya's turmoil¹⁴.

"We have competitors that would enjoy such a collapse¹⁵. Tanzania is one of them," said Manyalla. "The neighboring competitors would reap from our problems. Already Zanzibar is reaping from our Italian clients, Mauritius and Seychelles are reaping the problems we are so far having."

In some ways Kenya is better equipped to launch a recovery this time around. The slowdown in 1997 prompted the formation of the Kenya Tourist Board, which Sondhi says has developed a much better capacity for promoting tourism abroad than existed several years ago.

But a recovery strategy in itself can only accomplish so much. With the power-sharing deal yet to be implemented¹⁶, and with the specter of failed past attempts at political coalitions¹⁷, there is still a fear that unrest could return to the country, in which case tourism officials warn the industry would face virtual collapse. For now, hopes are high that the deal will hold and the long process of recovery can get under way.

1 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

2 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 advisories   

n.（有关进展、动向、建议等的）报告( advisory的名词复数 )；公告；通告；通报

参考例句：

• Compliance with Practice Advisories is optional. 是否遵守实务公告由审计师自行选择决定。 来自互联网
• Hardened-PHP: not as such a PHP security information website, but it does have security advisories. 增强PHP:不仅仅是一个PHP安全新的网站，它还提供安全建议。 来自互联网

5 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

6 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

7 carvings   

n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 )；雕刻术；雕刻品；雕刻物

参考例句：

• The desk was ornamented with many carvings. 这桌子装饰有很多雕刻物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town. 贝雕是该城的特产。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

9 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

10 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

11 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

12 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

13 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

14 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

15 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

16 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

17 coalitions   

结合体，同盟( coalition的名词复数 )； （两党或多党）联合政府

参考例句：

• History testifies to the ineptitude of coalitions in waging war. 历史昭示我们，多数国家联合作战，其进行甚为困难。
• All the coalitions in history have disintegrated sooner or later. 历史上任何联盟迟早都垮台了。