By Mwihaki Njogu
Kilifi County government in conjunction with the Ministry of Tourism has registered more than 1,000 villas within the county with the aim of boosting revenue collection from the Tourism Industry.
Kilifi County prides itself as one of the major tourist hubs of the country. Kilifi boasts of white sandy beaches, the Gede historical site, Kaya forests, Marafa hell kitchen and mangrove swamps.
In its bid to increase revenue, the County government has invested in registering villas and personal homes that offer accommodation to tourists. These accommodation places are projected to pay taxes to the county government
Nahida Mohamed, Kilifi County executive committee member for trade, said that the villas will be paying taxes just the way local hotels do.
Mohamed is positive that the villas will help both the county and national governments reap big in the tourism sector. He added that the number of tourists staying in the villas is growing.
Kilifi County offers excellent opportunities for sport fishing and marine research, especially the rare breeding grounds of special fish like Tewa.
Kilifi is also the home of the Arabuko Sokoke forest reserve, Malindi marine national park, Watamu marine national reserve and Kuruwitu marine areas as major attractions.