Tourism Governance in Transition Period: Restructuring Kenya's Tourism Administration from Centralized to Devolved System

Abstract

This study sought to examine the efficacy of tourism administration within Kenya’s devolved system of government. The study was based on content analysis of official documents and websites from the national and county governments in Kenya. Nine counties out of the 47 were further purposively selected for analysis of the tourism functionalities undertaken by the county governments. Data were analysed using thematic data analysis based on predetermined research questions. The study found out that whereas the role of both levels of government in Kenya’s tourism development is clearly identified, gaps exist that would hamper coordinated development of a competitive tourism industry in the country. This study thus identifies a number of lessons for tourism administration restructuring for destinations transiting from centralized to decentralized government system including the need for a clear delineation of tourism development functions between national and devolved government units, institutional and functional alignment between national and devolved government levels, a clear coordination mechanism between the tourism development mandates of the two levels of government, need to standardize tourism administration and development institutional framework and functions across the devolved units, and the need for capacity building of the devolved units during the transition point.