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Kenya: KWS Standardises Game Park Lease Prices
The Kenya Wildlife Service has finalised the standardisation of problematic leases in national game parks.

This is expected to increase the value of leases for lodges and hotels built inside national game parks.
 
There are two types of leases for establishment within parks; fixed and variable. Those on the fixed agreements pay a fixed amount despite prevailing business conditions while those on variable lease agreements are charged a percentage of their annual gross incomes.

Before the review, some lodges had been paying as little as Sh 2.50 per bed per night, which was seen as giving them an unfair advantage over those who were paying current rates.

Several factors will be put into consideration while determining the new rates of payment for leases. These include the site of construction, the lease period and the bed capacity.

The new development followed several stakeholders meetings that were held to discuss the lease standardisation program, which was carried out by the Business Development department of KWS.

The lease issue remained complex since many lodges negotiated their own lease terms with the KWS' predecessor, the Wildlife Management and Conservation Department WMCD.

Some lodges simply entered into informal agreements with the defunct WMCD, while others got leases but were unable to put up facilities and attempts to take back the leases have led to numerous court battles.

KWS has previously not been able to solve the lease issue and attempts to standardize the leases in the past have been met with opposition by some lodge and hotel owners.

The standardization program is set to increase the wildlife body's earnings from tourist facilities. In the last financial year, KWS director Dr Julius Kipng'etich announced that earnings of the wildlife body had hit a record Sh2.6 billion mark and he projected that KWS would be making Sh7 billion by 2010.

KWS has in the recent past been engaged in refurbishing parks and reserves in a bid to attract investors to areas where tourist facilities are in short supply such as western Kenya.

Parks have also been rebranded to give them a marketing boost and several airstrips have been built and roads renovated, a move that has attracted more visitors and increased earnings.

Apart from gate entrance fees which are its main source of revenue, KWS also received substantial income from various facilities which it operates. These include bandas and guest houses, which are located throughout the country.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200805260974.html
 

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