Britons travelling to Kenya have been warned to avoid the coastal city of Mombasa and popular beaches to its north due to the threat of terrorism.
The alert came in an upgraded Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advisory following a spate of small-scale grenade, bomb and armed attacks in Nairobi, Mombasa, and North Eastern Province.
The FCO said: “If you’re currently in an area to which the FCO advise against all but essential travel, you should consider whether you have an essential reason to remain.
“The death on 1 April of a prominent cleric in Mombasa has led to unrest and increased tension in the area.
“There is a possibility of further disturbances in the Mombasa area, particularly on Fridays after prayers.”
The areas affected by the new warning are Mombasa city and a three-mile-wide coastal strip from Mtwapa creek in the north, down to and including the resort of Tiwi in the south.
The area includes resorts popular with British tourists, especially package holidaymakers, including beaches at Bamburi, Nyali and Shanzu.
Diani, the main beach resort south of Mombasa, and the city’s airport are deemed to be safe, but visitors transferring by road from flights to hotels in Diani face an hours-long detour in order to avoid the new banned areas, the Telegraph reported.
Sam Ikwaye, executive officer of the Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers in Mombasa, told the newspaper: “We appreciate that the UK government has a responsibility for its citizens’ safety, but really this advisory is alarmist, untimely, and has the potential to shut down all tourism for this destination.
“When anyone, not just British people, hears the British government saying, ‘Don’t come to Mombasa’, then it has an impact on everyone’s perception of the safety here, when really it is still very safe in our estimation.
“You cannot imagine the impact. Tourism has a multiplier effect, so many people depend on it for their livelihoods. This advisory can put them all out of work.”
The heightened travel advisory prompted an immediate response from Kenya’s tourism ministry pointing out that Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta international airport and all safari circuits throughout Kenya continue to operate as normal and that all airports located on the Kenya coast are open and fully operational.
The Kenya Tourism Board said: “There have not been any incidents in Mombasa that have affected any tourists and Mombasa and its environs continue as normal.”