Hospitality development that gives back to society through business training and incubation

The long-term goal of the proposed “The Metal Inn” Bed and Breakfast is to become the ultimate accommodation of choice in Kisumu City for temporary lodging by creating a differentiated experience capitalizing on personalized customer service (warm hospitality), pocket friendly pricing, clean, cozy and home- reminiscent environment set in a unique location in one of the most attractive parts of Kisumu with a stunning view of lake Victoria. We plan to be more than a great bed and breakfast, setting the bar by creating an environment that surpasses the standard fare for lodging, in and around Kisumu City as well as forming a close bond with the local hosting community through interactions via a customized skill training/upgrade and business incubation hub. Our aim is also to expand the locale’s visibility through exposure via various media primarily the Internet thereby introducing and opening up Kisumu and by extension the western bloc locally and internationally to people that have not yet discovered this year-round paradise. This will allow us to maintain a higher than average occupancy rate and above average profits.

The Company

The Metal Inn Bed and Breakfast, although new, will diverse into other hospitality related ventures to ensure a steady flow of both income and patrons (tourists and locals) through its doors all year round. Metal Inn Bed and Breakfast is wholly owned by the directors of Technitis Limited, managing and maintaining the business.

Our Services

The Metal Inn Bed and Breakfast will be a new development, constructed using sustainable reclaimed eco-friendly materials. With this project still in its concept/design phase, it will have a total of 80 – 100 rental units with owner-occupancy in one of the unused rooms. Creating a "home away from home" which is often more beautiful and palatial than where they are traveling from will ensure many return customers. The riches and unique and diverse culture of the people of Kisumu City has always drawn a significant number of tourists to the lakeside destination. In addition to providing information about Kisumu’s various tourism destinations, we plan to collaborate with the county government, tour agencies, businesses and learning institutions throughout the area by offering packages and special rates. As the B&B becomes established through the peak season, we plan to expand our services to the residents of Kisumu City, county and neighboring counties in time for the off-season. We shall have a fully kitted kitchen and dining room as well as a roof top lounge that will be ideal for formal or informal gatherings (i.e. breakfasts, “Brunch”, lunches, high tea, evening wine and dine, wedding receptions, office parties, Christmas parties, etc.).

-The tourism industry in Kenya has made tremendous leaps and gains over the last 10 or so years. Data reported by Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) indicates that there has been a steady number of international arrivals into the country, averaging over 1 million visitors per year, with 2015 recording the lowest arrivals with 1.1 million visitors coming to Kenya. This is a clear demonstration that Kenya is a preferred tourism destination and has managed to consistently attract visitors to its borders over a long period of time.

In addition, data captured by the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) indicate that there has been a 25% increase in domestic bed nights between the year 2012 and the year 2016, further indicating that tourists are spending more time traveling and visiting various destinations across the country - a fact that is strongly supported by the rapid increase in bed capacity in major town across Kenya.This reinforces the need for decent and affordable accommodation, especially in and around the current devolved units of government i.e. county governments across the country.

Traditionally, Kenya has had 3 major tourism destinations namely the sandy beaches along the Kenyan Coast, the traditional game drive (safaris) through the national parks/ game reserves and excursions in and around the great Mt. Kenya. Historically, there has been very little offering or options for tourism in and around other parts of the country and in particular, the western parts of the country. However, with the promulgation of the new constitution in 2010 that introduced new levels of devolved governments, the landscape and the service offering has slowly been changing, with the devolved units of Government (Counties) seeminglycompeting amongst themselves to develop their tourism industries to attract as many visitors as possible. As a result, devolved units of Governments in the western circuit have opened up their territories and invested heavily in their tourism sectors and are undertaking massive promotional campaigns to entice would be tourists to visit, stay and spend within the counties. Among the leading devolved units of Government championing these initiative is Kisumu County.

The rise of the western tourism circuit, in particular Kisumu, as an alternative to the traditional tourist destinations has evolved in recent years due to an aggressive marketing campaign by the County Governments. Some of the salient features that gives this circuit its competitive advantage are;

A: international airport: With the upgrading of the Kisumu airport to international status, making it able to accommodate large capacity aircrafts, it has become a regional hub accounting for a large volume of travel to the western region of the country. This has been witnessed by the sudden increase of flights from Nairobi and other counties – mostly Mombasa –into the Kisumu international airport. Owing to the short duration of time it takes to get to Kisumu by air from a majority of other destinations (45 minutes on average), it has become a popular means of transport for the masses travelling to Kisumu and beyond.

B: cheap flights from Nairobi: The increased traffic into and out of Kisumu International Airport has not only reduced the travel time to Kisumu but has brought about the entry of new airlines plying the lucrative route. This in return has led to positive competition among the airlines to the benefit of the passengers as they can now access amazingly low priced air tickets, some starting from as low as Ksh. 3,500 (~US$ 35) for a 1 way ticket to or from Kisumu.

C: Good road infrastructure: The road network to and in and around Kisumu has gradually seen some major upgrade over the last 8-10 years, with the construction of new highways, expansion of main roads (to ease congestion and to aid in traffic flow) and increased repair and maintenance on the existing road network. This has not only made it easier to travel to Kisumu but also easier to maneuver in and around Kisumu City and the county in general.

D: Good and guaranteed security: Security has been identified as one of the pillars for stable micro level development by the current administration of the devolved government and invested heavily in the sector. Security in and around Kisumu City has since greatly improved and has been witnessed by an increase in the number of tourists and visitors coming into the city.

E: Increased investment by the private sector and NGOs: A growing number of multi-national companies, international and local NGOs have been and continue setting up their regional offices in Kisumu as they expand their operations in and around the western region. An example of this is the new brewery recently built by Diageo – One of the world’s largest alcohol manufacturers in the world – in Kisumu that will not only create thousands of jobs (both direct and indirect) within the region but will encourage the growth and development of other supporting industries as well. This will potentially lead to urban to rural migration of skilled labor force into Kisumu, thus further adding the need for decent and affordable short stay accommodation for the staff and the population in general who will be coming to Kisumu on official duty.