Securing the long-term future of the MMNR and
delivering the objectives of this management plan will require
significant increases in investment in the Reserve’s
infrastructure, staff and management activities (described in
detail in the plan’s four management programmes, see below).
However, a key principle of this plan is that appropriate
investment in the MMNR will result in corresponding
increases in the revenues generated by the Reserve, thereby
enabling both the implementation of this management plan as well as
county council development activities to be
supported.
Changes are proposed to the structure and levels
of key MMNR visitor use fees that are needed to gradually move the
Reserve’s tourism product towards a premium high-value, low
volume one, and at the same time to optimise tourism revenues.
These revisions will require a major overhaul of MMNR visitor fees,
including new differential pricing depending on the type of visitor
use. An important implication is that in future, MMNR pricing will
need to be set independently from that of KWS managed protected
areas, as well as differentiated from fees charged by surrounding
community conservancies.
These pricing differentials are, however, regarded
as appropriate in view of the unique wildlife experience on offer
in the MMNR, its global reputation as a wildlife destination of
choice, and the anticipated upgrading of the MMNR tourism product
to a premium one. The chapter’s second section provides a
forecast of the potential impacts of these visitor use fee changes
on future MMNR revenue generation. The forecasts show that, despite
an anticipated overall reduction in day visitors to the Reserve,
the proposed fee revisions have the potential to generate an
approximate 50% increase in revenue for the
CCN and a 90% increase for the CCTM; largely
attributable to the development of the premium tourism product and
the higher fees this will command.
Although various management options were discussed
during the development of this management plan, some of which are
incorporated into the plan’s programmes, revising the
structure and levels of the fees that visitors and tourism
operators are charged to use the MMNR remains the most
straightforward and effective mechanism for optimising Reserve
revenues while at the same time reducing the pressures on the
Reserve’s environment that result from current high levels of
visitation. However, to be successful, the existing MMNR pricing
scheme will need to be comprehensively overhauled and a more
sophisticated approach will be required that involves application
of differential pricing depending on the type of visitor use
involved.
This more sophisticated approach to pricing is
essential to reinforce the differentiation between the premium and
budget tourism products that the Reserve will continue to offer in
the future. If the MMNR pricing is not adequately differentiated,
it can be expected that the overall MMNR tourism product will
rapidly revert back to the budget tourism product that the Reserve
has traditionally provided, with corresponding implications for
overall visitor satisfaction and escalating environmental
impacts.
Importantly, this new approach implies that, in
future, MMNR pricing will be set independently from that of KWS.
This is, however, regarded as an important and crucial change for
the good, bearing in mind the status of the MMNR as Kenya’s
leading tourism destination, the economic value attached to the
exceptional features of the MMNR, and the need to promote the new
Low Use Zone premium, high value tourism product. Another
implication is that in future MMNR fees will need to be
differentiated from those of the community conservancies in the
wider ecosystem (many of which have traditionally pegged their own
entrance fees to those of the Reserve), in an effort to relieve
pressure on the Reserve and encourage visitors to make greater use
of the surrounding community areas.
Although the revenues shown in the table only
include the MMNR’s major revenue types, the figures
demonstrate that a significant increase in revenues is expected
under the new management plan, for both the CCN and CCTM
sub-sections of the Reserve. Under the new plan, an
approximate 50% increase in revenues is projected for the
CCN, and an approximate 90% increase for the CCTM.
This increase in revenues is attributable to the introduction of
the new premium tourism product and its associated revised pricing
scheme, as well as the additional accommodation facilities
scheduled for development in the Low Use Zone in accordance with
the plan’s prescriptions set out in the Visitor Use and
Zonation Scheme. It is important to note that, despite a major
decrease in day visitors expected to enter the Reserve from
neighbouring areas resulting from the higher MMNR entry fees, this
decline is amply counterbalanced by the higher entry fees
themselves, resulting in an overall major increase in revenue from
day visitor entry fees. Under the new plan, day visitors will still
comprise the largest proportion of the Reserve’s forecasted
revenues, and it is not anticipated that this situation will alter
in the foreseeable future.
The following figure provides a detailed analysis
of MMNR sources of revenue for each council, now and under
the plan. The diagram demonstrates the overwhelming importance of
visitor entry fees (both day and overnight visitors) in the overall
composition of revenue generated by the MMNR, which confirms that
the efficient and leak-free collection of these entry fees is at
the heart of the MMNR’s capacity to generate adequate
revenues so that the parent county councils are able to manage the
Reserve effectively, and can finance their other activities. The
diagram also shows the significantly greater revenue generation
potential for the Narok section of the Reserve. Besides the size
differential between the two areas (the CCN section is over twice
the size of the CCTM section), this can mainly be attributed to the
large numbers of visitors that stay outside the Reserve on the
Narok side, but still rely on the use of the Reserve for their game
viewing. In this regard, 750 day visitors are estimated to enter
the Narok section of the MMNR each day, compared with less than 150
day visitors per day for the CCTM section. Finally, the diagram
illustrates the important new contributions to MMNR revenues under
the plan that will be made by the 4WD vehicle visitor entry fee
supplement, the revised special campsite fees, and the new
ecolodges and ecocamp bednight fees. All of these additional
revenue contributions are the result of the upgrading of the
Reserve’s tourism product to a premium product, and are
mainly attributable to the careful development of the Low Use
Zone.
