As international terror warnings deflate Kenya’s coastal tourism industry, growing unemployment leaves many vulnerable to recruitment by Islamic extremist groups like the Shabab.
MOMBASA, Kenya — Every morning at the Tides Inn, a waiter trudges down from the restaurant to the beach with a huge blackboard advertising the daily specials — deep-fried fish and masala prawns, pepper steak and pizza, all listed in chalk and illustrated with cute drawings.
But nobody ever comes by, not even for a gander.
Up and down the Kenyan coast, it is the same picture. Tables sit empty, dance floors are deserted, crates of Tusker beer collect dust. The fabled white sand beaches along Kenya’s perch on the Indian Ocean have become ghost towns with palm trees.
“It’s the worst time anyone can remember,” said Dhiren Shah, the Tides Inn’s owner.
Kenya’s coastal tourism is collapsing and part of the reason — a big part of the reason, Kenyan officials say — are Western travel warnings. After a round of violence last summer in a remote coastal area where dozens of Kenyan villagers were killed, many Western embassies issued frightening-sounding travel advisories that exhaustively detailed all the perceived risks and dangers of visiting the Kenyan coast and other parts of the country.
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Mr. Kazungu walked away dejected.
“No mzungu, no money,” he said.
He then disappeared down the soft, white, deserted strip of sand that almost anywhere else would have qualified as paradise.
Reuben Kyama contributed reporting.
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