Added: 04/12/2006 |
Basic Principles of KATO, the Kenya Association of Tour OperatorsThroughout its history, the Kenya Association of Tour Operators has strived to establish itself as the leading trade organization by setting a number of goals and pursuing their achievement. Thus, the organization's mission can be defined as the following:
- To maintain Kenya's reputation as a superb tourist destination by ensuring that all tour operators in the nation maintain the top standards of value and service in offering Kenya vacation packages;
- To provide travel agents and customers alike with the confidence of knowing that the country has mechanisms for considering possible redress of wrongs the customer might suffer;
- To advise on certain standards that the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife may consider in deciding whether to grant the license of an operator; to create the atmosphere of loyalty and unity among its members;
- To offer means to its members to seek protection in disputes either with a non-member or another member of KATO.
The Kenya Association of Tour Operators expects its members to operate in compliance with KATO's reputation, providing top quality service, safety and comfort to all clients. First and foremost, the organization is committed to true principles of eco tourism, encouraging environmentally sensitive, low impact operations, aimed at maximizing visitor's enjoyment, as well as awareness and understanding of landscapes and wildlife, and respect to local communities and their cultures. The overall goal of KATO is to uphold integrity of tour industry in Kenya. The organization pursues this goal by encouraging its members to offer useful and precise information concerning the tour and country, standards of service, facilities and equipment, as well as a commitment to informing visitors to the country.
KATO is the association composed of leading experienced Kenya Tour Operators and the best source of information that includes incentive travel group safaris, special interest safaris, camping safaris, individual safaris and safaris by air. The Association's members are capable of accommodating any safari requests, while the standard of their operations reflects commitment to achievement of major objectives, namely to promote Kenya as a premier destination in trade markets across the globe; to uphold business ethics of the travel profession; and to ensure that the Kenya Travel Industry offers the highest standard of service.
All the KATO's members are bound by the rules of their own Code of Conduct, designed to ensure that each member is committed to trading honestly, which is the only ethical trading method. Covered in the Code is trading in its wide sense, including trading operations between members of the Association and overseas agents, and between KATO's members and their customers. Members are also required to strictly observe the Ethics and Standards, incorporated in the Code, as well as to abide by the judgments reached by the Executive Committee and the Ethics and Standards Sub-Committee in case the conditions of the Code are breached.
However, the conditions included into the Code of Conduct are not exhaustive, which means that they can and will be added in the light of experience acquired by members of the Association.
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