State seeks consultant for Elgeyo, Baringo cable car project

The Kenya Tourism Fund is seeking a consultant to carry out a feasibility study to construct cable cars in Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet counties.

The cable cars will be the first to be constructed in Kenya, with South Africa the only African countries currently running them to attract tourists.

The two counties will take advantage of escarpments in the area to construct the cableways that will see tourists taken for rides along the valleys.

The Tourism Fund says part of the focus on cable cars is to boost the countries tourism offering to grow revenues from the sector.

“A key challenge facing the sector is over reliance on a narrow product range and therefore there is urgent need to diversify the tourism product range by introducing niche products like the cable car in other tourism corridors,” the Tourism Fund said in an expression of interest in the dailies.

The consultant will be expected to undertake financial and financial analysis of the proposed project sites including demand analysis and how much the project will cost.

The two projects are estimated to cost Sh2 billion.

The Elegeyo Marakwet county government has already set aside Sh80 million for planning.

Other countries with cable cars are Brazil with her scenic Sugarloaf Mountain and Switzerland’s legendary Grindelwald-Männlichen cableways.

Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos expressed confidence that the setting up the first cable car in East Africa along the escarpments in Elgeyo Marakwet and Baringo will attract thousands of tourists to the region.

“With the opening of Rimoi Game Reserve and the Cable Car, Elgeyo Marakwet County will no doubt be a top tourist destination not only in Kenya but East Africa & beyond,” Mr Tolgos said.