Many lessons to learn from social conference
The World Social Forum came to a close yesterday with a symbolic marathon in the city.
The delegates discussed many issues, ranging from poverty reduction, environmental degradation, freedom, corruption and the uneven world economic order. It was a time for people from all parts of the world to exchange views and make suggestions on how the world can be made a better place, especially for the poor and the marginalised.
As delegates prepare to return home, Kenyans should reflect on the five-day event. We must state from the outset that it has, indeed, been a significant experience in the country's history. Kenya is the first African country to host such a huge event, with the number of participants running into tens of thousands. The benefits of the event were galore.
Top on the list were the tremendous business opportunities. Hotels in the city, for example, were fully booked, some for the first time in a long time. Restaurants and other food vendors did roaring business. When the curtain fell on the conference, there are many business people, small and big, who were laughing all the way to the bank.
Kenya Airways, which was the official carrier for the World Social Forum, reported full bookings on nearly all the routes in the last two weeks -- again for the first time.
This is not to mention the many traders who did booming business, selling their merchandise, and transporters who took participants to various parts of the city.
The success of the conference should, therefore, give the authorities the confidence that they can host even bigger events. This is especially so now that it has become increasingly clear that Nairobi is a preferred international destination for conference tourism.
Other than the World Social Forum, the city has in the past few years hosted many international meetings, including the Africities Conference. Others have been lined up and the business community is excited about these prospects. The refurbished Kenyatta International Conference Centre has been key in this regard.
The event could not have succeeded without the input of many players: The Government which provided security and other forms of support, the organisers and Kenyans who, in one way or another, ceded some social-economic ground to accommodate the visitors.
It is this welcoming spirit, in addition to the good work being done by the Kenya Tourism Board, that eventually markets the country to the outside world.
But even as the country parts itself on the back for a job well done, it must face some hard truths that were noticed during the event. Without blaming the organisers, there were some things that could have been done better. Right from the first day, it was apparent that all was not well, with some delegates being re-routed and others turned away as Jomo Kenyatta International Airport struggled to cope with the enormous air traffic.
Registration seemed unnecessarily cumbersome and inconveniencing to even the media. Though the number of participants were far below the expected hundreds of thousands, the facilities were stretched to the limit.
This means that as Nairobi is marketed as a preferred destination for business meetings and conferences, it is significant that facilities be upgraded so that they can cope with numbers. If the less than 100,000 delegates who came for the conference strained the facilities, what would have happened had the number risen to 150,000 as was the cases at last year's World Social Forum in Brazil? It is a wake up call and more so for the Government.