Abstract:
The Kenyan tourism industry has over the years relied on
beach and safari tourists to the Kenyan coast and
selected Parks and reserves. This has put a lot of
pressure on these regions leading to negative environmental
and social impacts. To overcome the negative impacts, there
have been efforts to develop and market alternative
destinations such as Western Kenya under which Kisumu
region lies. This paper aims at exploring the viability of the
Western region, specifically Kisumu for tourism by analyzing
its strengths and challenges in relation to attractions,
amenities/facilities and accessibility. A mixed methods
approach, where both qualitative and quantitative data
collection techniques was used. Results indicate that Kisumu
has strengths in attractions and challenged amenities/facilities
and accessibility. For sustainable tourism development,
through product diversification to Kisumu, the government
and other stakeholders need to develop amenities/facilities
(especially accommodation) and improve the accessibility
within the region.
