Regional governments are lobbying to have the Ksh5.9 billion Tourism Development Fund to be released to devolved units to support the improvement of tourism products in the counties.

Nyeri County Executive Committee Member for Trade, Tourism, Culture and Co-operatives Daina Kendi says that, since tourism products are mostly domiciled in counties, it would make more sense if the ministry of tourism and wildlife adopts a model similar to the one used by the Exchequer to allocate equitable share to counties, to channel more money to county departments of Tourism to support the development of cultural and tourism sites within the counties.

“All these products that we can market as a country are in counties and should mostly be developed by counties. And as much as we are saying we want to develop products, there is a funding question,” said Kendi.

“This is a conversation going on; it hasn’t been finalised. We are not saying add the money, we are just saying since it is. So we want to make sure it is shared equitably to the counties so that if Mombasa is good with beach tourism, we invest a lot in beach, if Narok is good with the Mara let us invest in that and if Nyeri is good with heritage let us invest in that,” she added.

The Tourism Promotion Fund was established through the Public Finance Management Act, 2012. The mandate of the fund is to provide funds to support development, promotion and branding of tourism sector in Kenya. Part of its mandate also includes co-financing of tourism development and promotion projects with county governments on the basis of an agreed ratio of matching grants.

According to Open Budget Kenya, the fund was allocated Ksh5.9 billion in the 2025/2026 fiscal year. Some Ksh1.4 billion of the fund will be spent in Tourism Promotion and Marketing.

But Kendi argues that since counties also chip some money into the fund, the redistribution of the money should not be hinged on project proposals alone.

“We are saying that since this money is collected from counties, how it is being redistributed for the development of tourism in Kenya to ensure that all counties have some share of that fund, considering all the counties are contributing,” the CEC said during an interview.

“If the fund is structured in a way that every county receives this equitable share for tourism development, then they will also be compelled to do something with it. It the same way we receive conditional grants that are very specific on what the money should be used for so even if we were not very keen on tourism promotion, once we know the funds for us as counties to benefit from this fund we have to align,” she added.

Kendi noted that adopting the funding strategy and with ministry offering more support for counties, the country will stand a better chance of marketing itself globally using diverse product.

“Let us invest in the sector so that we are able as country to collectively present a product where we are saying a tourist can go to county A for beach and county B Safari so that even when we go to lobby internationally we a presenting a more diverse product. As it has been, we have mainly been presenting beach and safari whereas the only culture we have presented in Maasai so anyone who is abroad thinks we are all Maasai, but we have all these other cultures and other tourism products,” Kendi said.

The county government in conjunction with the National Museums of Kenya has independently mapped out and documented over 30 heritage sites within the county. Some of them include Dedan Kimathi Kahiga-ini site-where Mau war veteran, Kimathi was shot and captured by British soldiers on October 21, 1956; Kangubiri Detention Camp, which served as a detention camp and was used as a screening and interrogation centre for Mau detainees and the Tree Tops Lodge where the longest serving British monarch, the late Queen Elizabeth was staying in 1952 when she ascended to the throne.

The county has also gazetted the African Native Court at Ruring’u, which houses the African tools used during the struggle for independence; the Italian War Memorial Church, which houses the remains of all the Italians captured by the British forces in 1940s during the Italian War in East Africa and the Lord Baden Powell Gardens, which is the grave of the founder of the Worldwide Scouting Movement and Paxtu Museum which is the final home of Lord Powell.

Other areas that have also been mapped out include; Gura Fishing camp, Kabira caves, Chinga dam, Kiandu Mass grave, Mau Mass grave, Nyakahara shrine in Tetu and the Mau flag site in Ruring’u where freedom fighters symbolically laid down their arms in 1963 at ceremony marking Kenya’s independence.

The information documented is mostly used by tour operators and guides to develop itinerary routes for tourists and also package of the tourism products for the Nyeri county circuit. It also acts as a tourism resource database and cultural interpretation of the sites for the visitors.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Wangari Mwangi and Samuel Maina