Managing Kenya’s Beaches

Mombasa’s hotels have grown steadily in size over the years. I recall staying in intimate, mukuti-roofed hotels as a child, with buildings nestled in tropical gardens. Since then, most of these properties have expanded into multi-swimming pool complexes, with rooms numbering into the hundreds. When out at sea, massive concrete blocks tower visibly over the palms.

However, not all hoteliers have followed this path. I was reminded of one hotel group’s more enlightened approach to business when I recently stayed at their property on Mombasa’s North Coast. This hotel draws extensively on Swahili architecture, and with small buildings clustered around fountains and benches, they strive to create an atmosphere similar to a traditional - and very appealing - coastal town.

Unpleasant beaches
However, I experienced a shock as I transitioned from this environment to the beach. The beach was surprisingly crowded, which I was unused to in Kenya. On a closer look, I realized that it was not busy with tourists (sadly, there were very few) but with a number of makeshift shops and crowds of beach experience touts (otherwise known as beach boys or, less generously, beach bums). There was not enough space on the beach for a good evening run. Disappointed, I withdrew to the hotel.

This is not the kind of experience that visitors to Kenya should have. It was okay for me: I was over only from Nairobi and for work. However, I would have been upset had I traveled thousands of miles, spending a substantial amount of my hard saved income in the process. I would likely not book a return visit to Kenya’s coast.

Business at a cost
The issue of informal entrepreneurs on Kenya’s beaches is an old and not uncontroversial one, like many other cases of Kenya’s informal economy. Beach experience touts say that they have a right to try to make an honest shilling, and that the economic benefit of Kenya’s tourism should be spread more widely beyond the large hotels and tour companies. They have a valid point.

However, the question that needs to be asked is: are these entrepreneurs’ rights being protected at the expense of a larger industry and, if it is a major one, at the expense of the wider economy?

Tragedy of the commons
The root of the problem is that Kenya’s beaches are public land, open to everyone. Like many public spaces, they risk being over-exploited if not effectively managed.

As to why this happens, the explanation runs like this. As a tout, my interest is to maximize the money I earn each day on the beach. I will push hard to do so, aggressively encouraging every tourist that I come across to purchase something from me. If my tactics border on harassment, so be it - if I do not sell hard, someone else will, to their benefit over my own. This may in the long run reduce the number of tourists that come to the beach; however, acting on my own, I will not be able to stop this trend, because other touts will continue the aggressive sell whether I do or not. So, better I not miss out in the short term gains, and continue my hard-sell approach regardless of the long-term impact on the resource base on which I depend.

This problem of knowingly over-exploiting publicly held resources in the short-term at the expense of long-term sustainability is referred to as the tragedy of the commons (originally advanced to explain the overgrazing by individual animal herders of communally owned land).

Better management
One way to manage this issue is to address the ownership dimension of the problem. In short, privatize the resource. Having invested substantial capital into owning a stretch of the beach, it will be in the interests of its new owners to look after it, not just now but into the future. They will actively police the kind of experience that high paying visitors have on their beach.

However, Kenya’s beaches have always been public goods, and few would want the enjoyment of such a wonderful national resource to be restricted a paying few. Therefore, if the beaches are not to be auctioned off into private ownership, then it falls upon the government to manage them better for long-term advantage.

Like all effective management, this will entail establishing standards and enforcing their compliance. This translates into controlling how the beaches are used so that they are not excessively crowded and that tourists do not feel too harassed. Simply put: controlling the beach experience touts.

Doing so will likely include a mix of:

• Limiting places where shops can be set up, so as to leave the main part of the beach open for walking, exercising and the enjoyment of long, uninterrupted views
• Developing and enforcing guidelines on how touts can solicit visitors’ business
• Limiting the number of touts who operate on a given stretch of beach through licensing, which would also be used to ensure compliance with behavioral guidelines.

All of this may sound a little trivial (or draconian, depending on your perspective). However, when you have substantial hospitality investments for which the main attraction is the beach, there is nothing trivial at play here. What happens on the beach has the potential to substantially impact the success or failure of an investment that runs into millions of dollars.

… for the greater good
Beach management policy - or a lack of it - does not merely impact upon beach hotels. Kenya’s beaches are an important part of Kenya’s larger tourism offering, often combined with inland safaris. Managing Kenya’s beaches such that visitors have a positive experience encourages tourism in general, which, according to World Travel and Tourism Council estimates, accounts for almost 9% of Kenya’s GDP and employs over 7% of the work force. The issue of beach management does not only concern hotels on the beach and entrepreneurs who ply their trade there, but anyone who cares about Kenya’s wider economy.

However, any beach policy will without question affect the hoteliers and touts most directly. For the hoteliers, the impact of good policy will be unambiguously positive - things can only improve from the current state of affairs. For the touts, not all of them will immediately benefit. Those that comply with guidelines and win licenses to work the beach will receive support in things like product development and face less intense competition. Their business should do well.

For those that do not manage to secure licenses, things will initially be more difficult. However, with tourism down as it is today, and many touts turning from cool hustler to plain beggar, they cannot be much worse off than they already are. And eventually, as Kenya’s beaches regain their reputation for being great places to relax and enjoy the sun, sea and sand, tourism will have a better chance of revival. With this will come new and interesting employment prospects, particularly for people who already have tourism experience, albeit informally.

This may mean, however, that a couple of guys will need to tame their dreads and strap on bow ties.