Associated Press - British tourists queue with their
luggage to leave by charter flight from the international airport in Mombasa,
Kenya Friday, May 16, 2014. Britain’s government warned its citizens this week
to avoid the coastal city of Mombasa and beach towns nearby, prompting a travel
company to cut short the vacations of hundreds of British citizens and fly them
home, while Kenya’s National Disaster Operation Centre says that two explosions
in Nairobi have killed at least four people Friday with one blast targeting a
mini-van that Kenyans use for public transportation and a second blast went off
in a market.
By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, May 20,
7:18 AM
KAMPALA, Uganda — Mombasa and
its sandy white coastline beckon vacationers, but on a recent day Harold Kampala
watched helplessly as more than 100 guests checked out of his hotel, heeding a
British government warning that the coastal region should be avoided because of
fears that a terrorist attack might be imminent.
The alert from Britain and similar warnings from the
U.S., France and Australia are impacting Kenya’s tourism industry, with
the possibility of layoffs looming. Tourism creates about 10 percent of the
country’s jobs, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.
More than 900 tourists have cut short their vacations since the
warning was issued on May 14 by Britain, according to the Kenya Association of
Hotel keepers and Caterers. TUI Travel, a major British
leisure travel group, even took the step of cancelling all its flights to Mombasa
until October.
