Although wildlife tourism is becoming increasingly
well developed in the wider ecosystem, access to the
income
generated from this activity is not universal or
evenly distributed. For example, a recent study
found
that although around 50 percent of all households
in the Koiyaki, Lemek and Siana areas receive some
income
from tourism, this is highly skewed with a few
households earning much more than the majority
(in
2004 the average income is $247 per household,
with a median of just $88)36. A substantial amount of
this
difference is the result of the relative location
of individual plots and their suitability for tourism facility
development
(for example, those with plots near major rivers
or close to MMNR boundaries are able to
capitalise
on development opportunities). However, as past
tourism patterns has shown, many visitors to the
Mara
are keen to learn more about the traditional
Maasai culture and way of life, and visits to “cultural
villages”
have not only helped improve and diversify the
overall visitor experience provided in the Mara, but have
also
greatly enhanced the wider distribution of
revenues from tourism activities to additional community
members.
Nevertheless, these cultural villages have been
beset by a number of management problems in
recent
years, which have reduced the flow of revenue to
the communities operating them and have contributed
to
the downgrading of the visitor experience these
facilities offer.
In the Trans Mara section of the MMNR, the Mara
Conservancy has in recent years addressed several
of
these management problems. For example, the
Conservancy has supported the development of
transparent
ticketing and payment systems for visits to
cultural villages, coupled with a system for rotating visitation
between
villages in order to benefit different groups.
Based on the lessons learnt and experiences from
improving
the management and administration of the villages
in Trans Mara, MMNR management will therefore
take steps to initiate similar improvements in
other areas around the Reserve. As in the CCTM, this will
include
mechanisms for improving the cultural village
revenue collection and ticketing systems, including
liaising
with tourism operators about collection of
cultural village visitation fees at point of sale, rather than
at
the villages themselves (thus preventing
exploitation by unscrupulous drivers), and working out a way
of
equitably distributing visitors between
established villages. Once these managerial and administrative
aspects
of the cultural villages have been addressed, MMNR
management will also work to raise standards of
the
visitor experience at the villages (providing for
example, advice on visitor expectations and the best ways
to
market handicrafts), and will also provide input
and support to enhance the marketing and awareness of
opportunities
for visiting cultural
villages.
