Tourists continue to fly here to visit Maasai Mara National Reserve, where the great wildebeest migration is underway as 2 million animals move north for the season. Authorities are sensitive to anything that could keep visitors away from Kenya's Indian Ocean beaches and its game parks teeming with giraffes, zebras and other wild animals.
Just hours after the mall attack began, Kenya's tourism ministry rushed to reassure travelers “that Kenya is peaceful and our security agencies are doing everything possible to ensure that everyone is safe.”
Kenya's tourism minister said the attack was “a small hiccup” in Kenya's “resilient” tourism sector and predicted long-term growth to continue.
“This was a very unfortunate, isolated case and it's being managed,” Phyllis Kandie told the Associated Press over the phone Tuesday. “I believe it's safe to go to any part of Kenya, and I'd advise travelers to travel as normal.”
But the U.S. State Department last week warned would-be visitors that terrorism remains a concern and that violent crime and kidnappings “can occur at any time and in any location.”
