SPEECH BY JAMES WILSON DURING THE KAHC SYMPOSIUM IN MOMBASA ON WHY WE SHOULD CARE AND THE TOURISM POTENTIAL.............

1. Speech by James G Willson, Author of ‘Guerrillas of Tsavo’
at the Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers Annual Symposium at Sarova Whitesands Hotel,
Bamburi on Friday 22nd June 2018.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Good Morning,
I would like to start by asking you all this:
Is a Kenyan beach better than a beach in Scotland? No, they have white sandy beaches and crystal-clear water.
It’s just warmer here in Kenya!
Is the wildlife experience better in Kenya than elsewhere in the world? No – there are big cats on every continent
bar Australia, there are epic migrations on every continent. Even the elephants are not Kenya’s alone…
Yet the majority of the hotel industry in Kenya relies on these two experiences to sell bed nights in an already
over crowed, cut throat international market place. Any successful business person will tell you that being
unique is the easiest way to sell a product.
Our Culture and our Heritage is want makes us unique and should be one of our biggest selling points.
Over the years tourism ministers have been preaching about the need to diversify the tourism product to
include and promote our culture and heritage. In a utopian world these would be preserved for the sake of their
historic significance. In reality, modern Kenyans with their smart phones and urban lifestyle have all but lost
their connection with the past which means we are losing our culture followed very quickly by our heritage. The
two products that the tourism industry in Kenya needs to make us unique are slipping away from us.
How many of our inbound tour operators offer extended culture and heritage tours of Kenya? Not just half day
visits to the Bomas of Kenya, Akamba Wood Carvers or a Manyatta. A quick Google search finds no international
links on the first page and only 1 Nairobi based agent.
How many visitors, both local and international, sit and watch the ‘traditional dancers’ that so many of the coast
hotels put on as evening entertainment. You could argue that their just board and have nothing else to do… I
argue that our guests are curious and want to learn. Isn’t that what travel is all about? Learning and experiencing
new things?
Unfortunately, despite Government promises, the economic realities of limited budgets and even less
government interest has resulted in much of our Culture and Heritage being neglected and vandalised. Tourism
can offer a commercial solution to preserving these historic sites. You just have to work with and support local
communities and initiatives. Working across 8 counties, the Tsavo Heritage Foundation is in the perfect position
to do this with you.
My interest in Kenya’s Heritage steams from my interest in the First World War and more importantly the part
played by over 1 million Kenyans not in the trenches in Europe but here in Kenya and East Africa.

2. Since time immemorial humans have held a grewsome fascination for blood and gore and the stories that go
with it. Way back in 55BC after Julius Ceaser’s army invaded Britain, we see the first mentions of the upper-
classes of Roman Society travelling from Europe to visit the sites of some of the battles.
World wide today, travelling to see the remains of battle is a whole industry that has not been fully unlocked.
Curiosity plays a big role when visiting such sites, but also the need to understand better, to experience the
sensation of the place and just to stand in the shoes of those who were there.
The US, France, Belgium and more recently South Africa and Turkey have all embraced Battlefield Tourism and
have seen huge gains not only to national GDP but also to the communities around each site.
Flanders, on the French / Belgium Boarder, is the site most people around the world visualise when the First
World War is mentioned. They were expecting 2 million visitors to the memorials and sites of the war alone in
2014. The Cemeteries were recording numbers of 4,000 per day during the summer. In 2016 Visit Flanders
Tourism Board released some amazing statistic showing their arrival numbers hitting 11.9 million visitors of
which 54% were from outside Europe including visitors from China, India and Africa.
In France, Tourisme Normandie estimated that in 2016, 4.6 million tourists went to Normandy specifically to
visit D-Day and Battle of Normandy sites and spent locally a whopping 1.5 billion euros.
South Africa embraced Battlefield tourism about 10 years ago. Today they have a dedicated Battlefield Route
complete with its own marketing office, website and tour guides all under the umbrella of the South African
Tourist Board. There is even a waiting list of 2 years for people to join tours lead by professional, knowledgeable
tour guides.
In just 10 years Turkey saw a 300% increase in visitors to the Anzac Day Commemorations on the Gallipoli
Peninsular. In 1994 officials recorded 4500 visitors but since 2004 they have seen an average of 15,000 visitors.
These numbers are not spread out during the year. This is just for a 3-hour service of remembrance held at
dawn on the 25 April every year. These are not domestic tourists. 99% of the visitors are from Australia and
New Zealand.
The Gallipoli Peninsular was gazetted as National Park in the early 50’s but from 1994 the Turkish authorities
and tourism stakeholders worked together to create a very lucrative gold mine by sustainably developing not
only the first world war battlefield but also sites of cultural and environmental significance together with
accommodation and infrastructure.
The Turkish authorities were; and still are active in several areas, from constructing new monuments on the
battlefield to ensuring that the Turkish Gallipoli story reaches all their school students. There is now detailed
coverage of the Turkish involvement in the First World War in the national school curricula and a stipulation
that every Turkish school student will make an organised excursion to the Gallipoli battlefield at least once
during their education.
The children then pull their parents back to visit the sites creating a massive knock-on effect. The figures for
last year showed 1.5 million domestic visitors to the battlefield.
This year the numbers visiting the ANZAC day commemorations were actually down by about 6000 people, not
because of security threats but because the area just can’t cope and so they capped the numbers who could
attend by introducing a lottery system. That’s 6000 people who were willing take a 22-hour flight for a 3-hour
cultural experience who couldn’t go. And here am only talking about people travelling from Australia and New
Zealand.

3. OK what’s this got to do with us here in Kenya?
Well it should be an inspiration for all of us.
We have a flamboyant Culture… like Turkey,
We have an amazing Heritage… even older than Turkey,
We have more first world war battlefields and sites than Turkey.
But Turkey doesn’t have our wildlife, nor our friendly smiles…
Package all this together and we have an amazing opportunity for Kenya… we can offer all these international
battlefield tourists so much more.
Here are home, where domestic tourism is booming we also have an untapped market.
How many of you here know about your fathers and grand fathers struggles? Am not talking about our fight for
national Independence. Am still talking about the First World War. A war in which one in four Kenyans were
involved, not in Europe but here in East Africa. I have been very proud to sit in the Sarova Taita Hills Game Lodge
lounge and watch both Kenyans and international visitors read and look through the Guerrillas of Tsavo First
World War Exhibit. The only one of its kind in East Africa. The look of wonder especially from Kenyans learning
about the campaign for the first time is priceless. But what else is there to see?
During the course of researching and writing my book Guerrillas of Tsavo, I have identified 22 WW1 sites in and
around the Tsavo West National Park many of which are accessible to the general public. With a bit of
background knowledge all offer a fascinating insight to what happened 104 years ago.
Three of these sites I think is particularly worth mentioning. The 117 year original District Commissionaire’s
house from where the DC fired the first British shots of the East African Campaign is still standing in Taveta but
is in a most dilapidated state imaginable despite being lived in by the local Prison Wardens. The original window
frames still hang on the windows but the walls are crumbling and roof is collapsing.
The old stone fortifications on the hill at Maktau, that once stood guard over 20,000 troops, porters and carriers
has been badly vandalised with much of the stone been carried off for building work. Of particular interest here
is names craved into a stone by some of the British troops who were stationed here. There is also part of a wall
which still has a little snipper window overlooking the stunning vista across Tsavo to Salaita Hill and Tanzania
beyond.
The third site is Maktau Station. In 2004, roughly 20 years since the Voi to Taveta railway stopped running, this
attractive little station was still proudly manned by a beautifully turned out station master, the tracks clean of
weeds and the equipment polished. Today, the main building is over run by weeds, the floors have collapsed
and all equipment long since disappeared along with the station master. Adjacent to the station is a Memorial
to troops from India who died around Maktau.
You may be surprised to hear that these three sites are part of 12 that were Gazetted as National Monuments
by the Cabinet Secretary for Arts and Culture, Hassa Wario in January 2015 but we have yet to see any work
done or even signage erected.

4. The sites of the first world war are not only in Taita, from the South Coast all the way to Kisii in Western you
will find something of importance. Here in Mombasa there is truly unique memorial to one of the exceptional
tails that makes up the East African Campaign. Standing guard at the entrance to the old town and Fort Jesus
are two navel guns which today stand side by side in peace. Framed by coca cola kiosks and layabouts they are
badly rusted and in need of some TLC. These are the only guns in history, that I know of, that fought each
other at sea, as HMS Pegasus and SMS Konigsberg, then after the ships had both been sunk and the guns
recovered, they were used against each other again on land from Taveta all the way down into Southern
Tanzania. Their story is actually an epic tail worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster.
The sites are not all in this condition. The cemeteries of the First World war, which were also given National
Monument status, are beautifully maintained and cared for by a dedicated team from the Commonwealth War
Graves Commission who have an office in Nairobi. This amazing team have also begun a restoration and clean-
up program on the two beautiful memorials to the African forces in Nairobi on Kenyatta Avenue and in
Mombasa at Mwembe Tayari. Both these memorials were erected over 90 years ago and until a few weeks ago
were the only Memorials to those Kenyans who died but had no known grave or memorial.
The General Manager of Sarova Taita Hills wildlife Lodge, Mr Willie Mwadilo and his team proudly unveiled a
memorial stone at Mwashoti in the Taita Hills Wildlife Sanctuary in Memory of those that history have forgotten.
For the first time in 90 years we see a physical recognition for the Kenyans who were part of the East African
Campaign.
Over the next few months we are also going to launch a digital memorial or roll of Honour to all those who died
– European, African and Indian. This was after all a global war. It will not just be a list of names as on most
memorials, by having it online we hope to tell their individual story allowing for additions and corrections as
information comes to light. We hope Kenyans will embrace this and share what information they have. Where
the person came from, what role they played and where their final resting place is.
However in a country such as Kenya, which has tremendous cultural, linguistic, ideological and tribal influences,
we can soon see where one person’s hero is the next person’s villain and one person’s monument is the next
person’s symbol of oppression. This unfortunately has been caused largely by the politics of the day. Those
retelling the story must tread carefully and teach a balanced picture of the era to allow people to learn through
remembrance and develop respect not only for our elders but for our culture and heritage both tangible and
intangible. Our history cannot be forgotten or denied, it needs to be embraced holistically.
But until we show interest and the potential economic benefits to a site, local communities will never try to
protect them.
As Kenya’s hoteliers I challenge you all to play a role in protecting our culture and heritage. I hope when you
leave today you will stand up and lead the way. Inspire tour operators and ground handlers to broaden their
itineraries to include our colourful culture and heritage. It needs to be made clear to Kenya Tourist Board that
they need to embrace all of Kenya’s Culture and Heritage, not just ‘Urban Culture’ and ‘Village Visits’ as branded
on Magical Kenya.
Local and National Governments must include budgets for development and empowerment of the local
communities to develop tourism sites in conjunction with the tourism industry and the National Museums of
Kenya, who are, after all, our cultural custodians. A bag of cement and a guide is not enough. Our heritage sites
need professional conservation, modern facilities, well trained guides and clean toilets.
If we can achieve this Kenya can open its doors to a new niche within our traditional as well as emerging markets.

5. Our Culture and Heritage, both ancient and modern, is our unique selling point.
Thank you.
---------- ENDS ----------
For more information please contact:
James G Willson
Guerrillas of Tsavo
Email: james@guerrillasoftsavo.com
Web: www.guerrillasoftsavo.com