The long-awaited annual wildebeest migration has finally commenced in the Masai Mara Game Reserve, igniting a surge in tourist bookings and attracting visitors from around the world.
The spectacle, known as the ‘seventh new wonder of the world,’ was slightly delayed this year due to variations in seasonal rainfall patterns.
Speaking at the sand river crossing point on the Kenya-Tanzania border, Masai Mara Chief Park Warden, Stephen Ole Minis, revealed that international demand for travel to Kenya to witness the Great Migration had far surpassed the available bed capacity.
As a result, top lodges and camps such as the MGM Muthu-Kekorok Lodge, JW Marriott Maasai Mara Lodge, and Sarova Mara camp are fully booked for the next two months, posing challenges for operators seeking additional space to accommodate eager clients during Kenya’s peak season.
Yajit Kumarr and Stephen Shunai from MGM Muthu-Kekorok Lodge, Fairman Muhingi from JW Marriott Maasai Mara Lodge, and Nicholas Maina from Sarova Mara camp expressed the difficulty in securing beds, especially at the high-end lodges, which have experienced a backlog of bookings from the pandemic era.
Many reservations made in 2020 and 2021 were rescheduled to 2022 and beyond, leading to an overwhelming demand for accommodations.
“We are now seeking more space from other facilities outside the reserve as we are overbooked. This is an indication that tourism this season is promising, unlike the three previous years when Covid-19 prevented tourists from coming to Kenya,” said Shunai.
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Muhingi, the operation manager of JW Marriott Mara villas, shared that bed occupancy rates were expected to surpass 80 percent on average throughout the season, attributing the high number of tourists to improved management and the implementation of the Masai Mara development plan.
Nicholas Maina expressed optimism for a comeback after suffering substantial losses over the past three years when tourists canceled their bookings due to the pandemic. He revealed that many lodges are currently hosting tourists in managers’ houses and staff quarters to accommodate the overflow.
American honeymooners, Hallie and Zac Yeni from Philadelphia, PA, hailed Kenya as the safest destination in the world, having had the experience of a lifetime in the Mara.
They expressed their joy in witnessing the abundant wildlife, breathing fresh air, and feeling safe in the natural habitat, in stark contrast to their congested and crime-ridden home environment.
According to Chief Park Warden Stephen Ole Minis, this tourist peak season is the first following the implementation of the Masai Mara management plan, which was recently passed into law.
Governor Patrick Ntutu-led administration is overseeing the plan, which focuses on zonation and a visitor use scheme aimed at managing and regulating visitor impacts across different zones within the Masai Mara Nature Reserve.
County Executive Committee Member for Tourism and Wildlife, Johnson Sipitiek, explained that the zonation scheme establishes four categories of zone areas, including high-use, low-use, Mara River Ecological, and MMNR buffer zones. The high-use zones will receive increased management efforts to enhance the reserve’s tourism product and provide visitors with a high-quality and well-managed wildlife viewing experience.
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Governor Ntutu, also the Tourism Committee Chair at the Council of Governors, welcomed tourists from around the world to visit the Masai Mara Game Reserve and witness the spectacular wildebeest migration.
He emphasized that tourist attraction centers had been receiving visitors since the beginning of the year, and from now until October, the Masai Mara is at its peak due to the migration.
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