by Chrispinus Omar
NAIROBI, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Kenya will begin the promotion of home stays in a new tourism package aiming to boost sustainable growth and environmental conservation, an official said Monday.
Cabinet Secretary of Tourism Ministry Najib Balala said the home stays, promotion of cultural troupes and large-scale sale of community-produced artistic work would become the hallmarks of efforts to promote green growth.
"We are committed to the sustainability labels in our tourism products," Balala said when launching Kenya's celebrations to the 2017 Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development in Nairobi.
The East African nation is emphasizing home stays as a tourism approach to lend more efforts to the preservation of local cultures, which it hopes would continue to act as a motivator to tourists to visit local communities.
Kenyan officials have emphasized the need to conserve wildlife and marine resources.
"We plan to launch several activities as we celebrate the innovative tourism. We believe a well-managed tourism sector would place green growth at our disposal and help us to better manage the effects of climate change," said Principal Secretary of Tourism Ministry Fatuma Hirsi Mohamed.
Kenyan officials said the implementation of measures to improve sustainable tourism was crucial in enabling the country to attract investments to conserve forests and other facilities that back tourism.
