The single tourist visa launched by East African Community member states early last year remains largely unutilised due to lack of awareness.

A report commissioned by the Kenya Tourism Federation shows that over half of regional and international travellers passing through Kenya are unaware of the availability and process of using a Single Tourist Visa (STV) and National Identification for travelling in the region.

The report shows that up to 58.1 percent of travellers had neither used nor interacted with someone who had used STV, while 47 percent of travellers showed lack of familiarity on the existence of STV.

Majority of immigration officials are also unaware of the existence of the STV.

Speaking while presenting the report, Strathmore University Centre for Tourism and Hospitality – Research Consultant, Mr David Chiawo said that the current STV processing procedure had been described as very poor by travellers and therefore the need for review and necessary improvement.

LIMITED INFORMATION

”The survey further revealed limited information available on STV for travellers and immigration officials with responses ranging from very poor to average with only 25 percent of travelers and less than 15 percent of immigration officials rating the current information as good,” said Mr Chiawo.

The KTF Chairperson Ms Lucy Karume said she was encouraged to note that majority of travellers, immigration officials, travel and trade officials showed high expectations on STV, which was a good indication for the tourism sector to accelerate awareness for STV to meet these expectations.

“It is noteworthy that according to these research respondents’ indicated high expectations on STV with benefits ranging from very high to extremely high. Am however saddened that low awareness was recorded on the use of National identity cards (NID), with up to 47 percent of cross border travelers and a significant proportion of (17 percent) of immigration officials unaware,” she said.

Source: Daily Nation

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TradeMark Africa.