Zonation is a powerful protected area management
tool that allows managers to achieve different management aims in
different parts of the area, in particular through defining the
specific activities and developments that are permitted in the
different zones. In this way, zonation enables the spatial
management of the protected area to facilitate both
the protection of the area’s key ecological
features and sensitive habitats, and the
sustainable utilisation of the area for
tourism.
In the case of the MMNR, there are two major goals
which underpin the design of the Reserve’s zonation scheme:
the protection of the MMNR’s exceptional ecological
values, especially the sensitive ecological habitats and
breeding areas for rare species along the Mara River, and
the strengthening of the Reserve’s tourism
product, as detailed in the plan’s Tourism Management
Programme. A key consideration here is the rapid expansion of
tourism in the Reserve in recent years, which has led to
overcrowding and vehicle congestion, and thereby a deterioration in
the Reserve’s overall tourism product, and at the same time,
to increasing impacts on the MMNR’s exceptional natural
resources. The challenge for this management plan, and especially
for this zonation scheme, is how to optimise the revenues being
generated by MMNR tourism, which are crucial for the management of
the Reserve and to underwrite the parent county councils’
community development initiatives, while at the same time improving
the MMNR tourism product and reducing the impacts of tourism on the
Reserve’s natural environment upon which the entire MMNR
tourism product depends. Addressing this challenge is especially
important in the case of the Mara Reserve because of its role as
the flagship of both the Kenyan national tourism product, as well
as that of the Greater Mara Ecosystem. Upholding the reputation and
standard of the MMNR as the international wildlife destination and
the flagship of Kenya’s tourism industry is therefore a vital
overall aim of this management plan.
The plan, and this zonation scheme, addresses this
challenge by focusing on the nature of the tourism product on offer
in the MMNR. Over the years the MMNR tourism product has emerged as
what is often referred to as a “high volume, low
value” or “budget” product, i.e., it
concentrates, like budget airlines, on accommodating large numbers
of visitors paying relatively low fees for a more downmarket
product and services. The budget model is based around large
lodges, sometimes accommodating up to 200 guests, travelling by
road, usually in minibuses, and sold through travel agents as
package holidays. The budget product has served Kenya’s
tourism industry very well over the years, and has been a driving
force in the development of the industry. However, with a finite
resource such as the Mara Reserve, there are only so many visitors
that can be packed into the area before both the tourism product
and the environment begin to suffer, and visitors are encouraged to
look elsewhere for their holidays. Many stakeholders have argued
that this point was reached in the Mara several years ago, and the
Mara tourism industry has now recognised that there is a need to
move the Mara tourism product upmarket towards a
“premium” or “high value, low
volume” tourism product, which features smaller
accommodation facilities offering higher levels of service and
comfort, coupled with a more private game viewing experience with
smaller, usually 4WD vehicles, and low visitor densities to provide
a sense of solitude, adventure and wilderness. This premium tourism
product is usually linked to fly-in visitors, who book
independently directly with the tour operator rather than as a
package deal through travel agents. As such, the product tends to
maximise the tourism revenues accruing in Kenya, as opposed to with
middlemen based in Europe, North America or
Asia.
Many of the MMNR’s existing investors, even
those operating large lodges, now recognise that the premium
tourism product is the optimal way to go for the future of the
Mara, because this will optimise their own revenues while
minimising the dumbing-down of the Mara’s tourism product
because of overcrowding and congestion, which is ultimately likely
to encourage visitors to go to other similar destinations that
provide a better visitor experience – such as the Serengeti
National Park, the Reserve’s immediate neighbour. However,
recognising that the premium product is the best way to go for Mara
tourism is not the same as making it happen. This is because the
existing budget tourism model has significant momentum, and cannot
easily be switched to a premium product overnight. For example, the
current lodges in the Mara Reserve have their entire infrastructure
and staffing geared towards the budget tourism end of the market,
and they also have fixed contracts with travel agents and
consolidators. Changing the infrastructure and systems over to a
premium tourism product will have to be a gradual process,
involving identifying new markets and marketing mechanisms,
converting infrastructure to cater for a smaller number of visitors
with a premium product, and retraining staff to offer higher levels
of service. Encouragingly, several of the large lodges in the MMNR
have already started down this path. For example, some of the
lodges are in the process of reducing their room numbers and
providing a discrete premium product alongside their budget
product, as a means of beginningthe process of transitioning to an
entirely premium product.
Besides the lodges in the Reserve, the existing
budget tourism product in the MMNR supports a substantial set of
associated tourism products and services, in particular the tour
operators who provide the vehicles and guides for most visitors to
the MMNR. Once again, any transition process from a budget to a
premium tourism product must take into account the livelihoods of
these tour operators and other associated service providers,
because they too will need to adapt to the new realities in order
to survive. As with the hotelkeepers, many tour operators are
however already anticipating this transition, for example by
gradually replacing their minibuses with upmarket, modified 4WD
vehicles accommodating fewer passengers, so that they are well
positioned to meet the needs of a premium Mara tourism product as
it develops.
A final consideration with regard this shift from
a budget to a premium tourism product relates to the longterm
economic trends now underway in the world, with escalating fuel
prices, declining economies, and individuals in developed countries
generally having much less to spend on luxuries like long-distance
holidays.
It is likely that the main category of people that
will be impacted by these trends are the less well-off people in
developed countries that until now have been the main bread and
butter of the budget tourism industry. Comparatively, the more
well-off travellers that prefer a premium tourism product are less
likely to be impacted. So, a
premium tourism product makes sense for the long-term stability of
tourism revenues generated by the Mara for both investors and
councils alike. Premium tourism is also more likely to be stable in
times of global or local insecurity, such as the unrest that was
experienced in Kenya in early 2008. This is because the decision of
a premium tourist to visit Kenya is carefully made, while most
budget tourists make their holiday decisions arbitrarily, and could
equally well select a destination on the opposite page of their
holiday brochure should they have any small concerns about Kenya as
a destination.
