HOW TOURISM CAN LEAD TO RURAL REGENERATION

Creative packaging and marketing of rural tourism attractions can lead to job creation and rural regeneration.

Earlier this year, whilst visiting one of our game reserves-read(BISAN ADHI), I observed a women group from KINNA putting their creativity in making different and gorgeous things so as to sell to the visiting tourists. After spending sometimes with them, I reckoned to myself,what if these women are accorded massive support by the County government and other organizations? Isn't this one of the ways of creating employment?

As I left the area, I came to the conclusion that we are not exploiting our local resources to our potential,neither do we promote our game reserves which forms as our backbone as far as revenue is concerned.
 
The Kinna women group is the case of many groups in rural towns in Isiolo County, and made me realise that as a tourism industry, especially in rural areas, we need to take responsibility and make a difference.
Many rural towns are under growing pressure due to:
• Urbanisation;
•Lack of basic services;
• Bad management;
• Poor land use management;
• Inadequate planning;
• Environmental degradation;
• High levels of unemployment and low income households;
• High leakages; and
• Degradation of infrastructure.

However, most small towns in places such as Kinna and other rural areas in  Isiolo County, have much to offer tourists, such as historical sites, cultural tourism, ecotourism and agritourism to name a few. Through tourism one could not only create jobs, but careers for people and most importantly create wealth.

Wealth creation leads to job creation, and not the other way around, which is something that few people understand. The reason I stress careers rather than just jobs is that a career requires training and development and it is my belief that the only way to reduce poverty is to empower people.

Which brings me to the opportunities that are available in order to regenerate rural areas.

First of all, like any successful business venture, you need a champion to kick start the regeneration of small towns. Then do an inventory of what is available, and most towns have a few citizens who know exactly what is available and the stories that form part of the heritage products. This will form the bases of the marketing drive, if it has not been done before.
Focus on unique products and attractions and be creative in order to package what is available in an attractive manner. Once again I stress the concept of being creative. I have unfortunately seen so many strategies done at national, and County level by large consulting firms, and have to admit that they showed little to no creativity. This, however, is only one part of the story.

The second part is the part that can create jobs and really make a significant contribution to grow and regenerate the local economy and town in general. It is here that creativity really becomes paramount and requires an integration of what the town and the region have to offer.

Here are just a few examples:
The first possibility is to marry the towns’ tourism potential with agritourism. The latter is most probably one of the largest underutilised growth areas in the tourism industry.

Uasin-Gishu County has followed this strategy with great success, especially if one looks at integrating milk (cheese) and berry farming with tourism. This had huge spinoffs for smaller towns that became touristic towns.

In the second possibility, the focus is on arts and culture and how this can transform a rural tourism town into something exciting. One of the best examples is Narok County where various Masai groups perform their normal jumping  dancing and some villages in the county have subsequently become a top tourist destination.

A third possibility is to focus on other creative activities, which can make our rural areas a tourist destination, with a huge spillover effect in different towns.

These are just a few possibilities that prove how sleepy towns can be regenerated to become top tourist destinations. Most of these towns also use festivals to ensure that they retain or grow their markets. We have so many existing case studies to work from and much potential in rural areas, maybe it is time that we start to focus stronger on these areas and grow tourism where it is really needed in order to continue to address poverty and create hope for young people that desperately need it. I strongly believe that this is an underdeveloped area in Isiolo County that can offer domestic and international tourists something new and exciting.