Kenya tourism officials attended the inauguration in Washington of President Barack Obama as further evidence of their interest in promoting the area in western Kenya near Lake Victoria where his late father was born.

Najib Balala, Kenya’s minister for tourism, led the delegation of Kenya Tourism Board members to the inauguration and visited Atlanta and Los Angeles beforehand.

During a video interview with GlobalAtlanta, Mr. Balala said that an “Obama route” is being developed from Nairobi, the East African country’s capital, to Kogelo, the village in the remote, agricultural area where Mr. Obama’s father grew up.

Although the area is far away from traditional safari routes in Kenya, U.S. visitors will pass through the picturesque Rift Valley on their way to a freshly paved road to Kogelo. Besides the village and Lake Victoria, the tour will lead them to a museum highlighting the diversity of Kenya’s cultural heritage.

“I believe that Americans will want to discover more about their president and get to know him better and know his roots,” Mr. Balala said.

But he added that his government and Delta Air Lines Inc. are counting on more than just a curiosity in the new American president to justify four weekly flights from Atlanta to Nairobi that are to begin on June 2.

Delta is quick to discontinue flights that don’t attract enough passengers and the U.S. State Department continues to issue travel warnings about Kenya.

Mr. Balala, however, cites the U.S.'s current status as the No. 2 largest source of tourists to Kenya, second only to Europe. In 2007 some 100,000 visitors from the United States visited Kenya at a time when its economy had a growth rate of some 7 percent and its tourism industry was attracting more than $1 billion a year.

In late 2007, Kenya was in a position that many other African countries would envy, but the presidential election of Dec. 27 erupted in violence responsible for the deaths of more than 1,000 Kenyans and hundreds of thousands of displaced persons.

According to Mr. Balala, tourism generally fell off by 33 percent, with U.S. tourism falling off by 28 percent. American tourists interested in Kenya’s game parks and animals continue to be an important source of visitors, but the flights are to attract many other travelers as well, he said.

With 10 percent of Kenya’s gross domestic product based on tourism and 9 percent of its formal workforce involved in tourism, the stakes are high.

Mr. Balala is convinced that Kenyan students in the United States will retain their loyalties to their homeland and be an important factor is filling the flights. “We have more students in the U.S. than any other African country, even Nigeria,” he said.

Kenya’s parliament is considering legislation that is to permit dual citizenship so that those Kenyans who have come to the U.S. and adopt U.S. citizenship will be able to retain their Kenyan citizenship.

The government, Mr. Balala, said, is anxious to encourage Kenyans who are earning livings in the U.S. to buy homes in Kenya and invest in companies there. He added that some already have, especially in recently privatized companies.

In addition, his country is making efforts to develop opportunities for tourists interested in more adventurous visits such as trips to the Chalbi desert in northern Kenya where Lake Turkana is located.

It also is developing new facilities for leisure travelers interested in traditional pastimes such as golf or relaxing on the beach. There are also specialty opportunities such as meeting with Kenya’s successful marathon runners.

Meanwhile, Mr. Balala has been downplaying the dire travel warnings, saying that security risks exist everywhere including in downtown Atlanta.

“Security problems have been blown out of proportion in comparison to the good things going on,” he said, insisting that not a single tourist was hurt during the violence following the election.

For more information, go to www.magicalkenya.com or send an e-mail to infousa@magicalkenya.com.

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