Mombasa county governor aspirant running mate Francis Thoya has outlined some of the key plans the next county government will focus on to revive the multi-Million tourism sector in Mombasa.

Thoya who is the running mate to Mvita Mp and ODM candidate for the Mombasa county governor seat Abdulswamad Nassir, stated that relaxing some of the taxes and levies imposed on tourism players is among considerations the next Mombasa next county government will prioritise.

Thoya said the sector that is reeling from the post Covid 19 pandemic requires a collaborative approach to cushion players from closing shop.

“Our team led by Nassir plans to sit with stakeholders in the sector with a view to complement the sector on around relaxing some of the taxes and levies that we think have not been encouraging, for instance, bed levies, how would you change bed levies when the hotel is in low season and no guests, this is one of the things that we want to critically relook at,” said Thoya.

Players in the sector have often expressed their displeasure in the way the county government of Mombasa introduced a collection of bed levy from a select category of hotels within the county.

Tourism players want an enactment of the Mombasa County Beach Management Act to institutionalize the Beach Management Fund which will offer convenience and proportionality to hospitality stakeholders to contribute.

Thoya noted “If we provide an enabling environment for the sector to thrive, it means we are going to create jobs, we also need to encourage our stakeholders to look at rebranding our products, like conference tourism, health tourisms and these are some of the emerging opportunities that I see, that would properly Change the whole sector."

The former Mombasa county secretary said the next county government will invest heavily on creating jobs, reviving the economy and curbing crimes in Mombasa to make the city an investment hub.

“For the sector to thrive we must secure our city and also make the city clean, we must bring the criminal gangs to a stop, part of the plans that our team has os to provide incentives to the youth that will create employment opportunities to the youth so that we can attract investments and   create jobs,” he added.

Thoya Says the sector fortunes are yet to be fully exploited, adding that move investment needs to be done in the multi-Million sector in Mombasa.

“Tourism has largely depended on foreign tourists arrivals but of late we have seen a shift, that minority of tourists are locals, this is an experience we saw during covid -19 period. This should be encouraged to ensure the sector thrives when there is decline of foreign visitors,” said Thoya.

On May 18, 2022 Nassir Unveiled Thoya as his running mate ahead of the August General Elections. Nassir, who will be running on an ODM party ticket, also laid out his manifesto for the county.