The government is racing to bridge skills shortages in the hospitality and travel industry as it bids to position Kenya as a top destination in Africa for high-value segments such as meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE).
Tourism officials reckon that human capital gaps in culinary arts, cruise services, hospitality and events management are undermining service quality and forcing some hotels to import basic products such as bread.
About Sh300 million in government loans has been wired to tourism students in various universities and colleges in the first year of operationalising Tourism Training Revolving Fund (TTRF), a sector-specific loan facility, administered by the Tourism Fund (TF).
The tourism student loan scheme is being positioned as a critical pillar in supporting the target of growing annual tourist arrivals from the current 2.5 million to five million, largely via the MICE segment.
TF Board of Trustees chairperson Samson Some said the country cannot achieve its tourism ambitions without a deliberate, data-driven approach to skills development.
“The idea here is when the destination will be receiving five million visitors, we need our systems here— our hotels, tour operators and airlines — to be ready to serve and give a premium experience,” Mr Some said in an interview. “We cannot fix these gaps organically but through scientific processes where we plan, train and finance skills scientifically.”
The revolving fund was operationalised late 2024, more than a decade since it was provided for in the Tourism Act, 2011 and facilitative regulations of 2015.
TF says more than 3,800 students have tapped loans from the fund which operates on a model similar to the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).
Students apply online through the Tourism Fund portal after securing admission to approved institutions, with funds disbursed using HELB’s existing infrastructure. Repayment begins once beneficiaries secure employment.
Mr Some said the fund’s sustainability rests on the tourism sector’s capacity to absorb labour.
“The biggest challenge with loan recovery in this country has been unemployment,” he said. “Once people are working, repayment is not a problem.”
The State-backed funding for tourism training comes amid a reported shortage in some critical skills such as pastry and bakery production, weakening productivity and service quality as tourism rebounds.
TF reckons that lack of adequate certified pastry professionals has contributed to the importation of bread by major establishments.
“We are importing bread into this country because we don’t have enough certified pastry experts,” Mr Some said. “That should worry all of us.”
Cruise services certification processes, he adds, have lagged international standards, while events management has operated without a nationally recognised framework.
Besides the student loan scheme, TF says it has also expanded Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), a certification programme guided by the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA) that formally recognises skills acquired through work experience.
More than 7,000 tourism workers have been certified through RPL since 2023, improving their productivity, employability and earning potential. Some have secured jobs abroad, particularly in the Middle East.
“Certification has opened doors for many who were already working but lacked papers,” Mr Some said, adding that Kenya is engaging countries such as Germany on structured labour export arrangements for certified tourism workers.
