Richard Branson slams UK over Kenya travel advisory

Monday July 14, 2014

Sir Richard Branson plays with a young girl at the Giraffe Centre during a visit to Nairobi.

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British billionaire Richard Branson has slammed foreign governments for issuing travel advisories against Kenya, saying they create a wrong impression about the country and risk destroying its economy.

In a posting on his Virgin Group website, Sir Richard said governments should never publish travel advisories warning its citizens against visiting another country, saying this played into the hand of terrorists.

The businessman said the travel advisories were hurting Kenyan’s tourism sector and, by extension, the economy adding that decreased business is the reason his airline pulled out of Kenya in 2012.

“While the government has a responsibility to highlight facts, advising against all non-essential travel could destroy Kenya’s economy,” he said, mentioning the UK Foreign Office which recently issued such a warning.

“This is effectively a ban on travel, rather than leaving people to make up their own minds... They are giving the false impression that Kenya is too dangerous to visit.”

Sir Richard is an investor in Kenya’s hospitality industry having opened a luxury tented camp in Maasai Mara last year.

SOURCE:Business Daily Africa

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