Blog posts
Thoughts, stories, travel, business, and the occasional strong opinion
A collection of writing from across two decades of building, travelling, observing, and occasionally getting mildly irritated enough to write about it. Some posts are current, some are older pieces from the archive, but together they trace the ideas, journeys, businesses, and arguments that have shaped my work and worldview.
Africa is rising fast. But it is still under-visited.
Africa is now the world’s fastest-growing tourism region, but it remains deeply under-visited relative to its population. Behind that gap …
Africa’s hotel investment boom is real, but uneven
Africa’s hotel investment pipeline is booming, but growth is concentrated. The real winners will be the markets that convert promising …
Urban Africa is becoming the next big tourism story
For too long, African cities were treated as gateways to safaris, beaches, and heritage sites. That story is changing fast …
Zanzibar Is Rising Fast. Kenya’s Coast Should Pay Attention.
Zanzibar is not outclassing Kenya as a whole. But in focused leisure tourism, it is pulling ahead of the Kenya …
Silva Gigiri, Gulf Hotels Group, and a new level for Nairobi hospitality
As a strong signal around where the project is heading, the launch also picked up media coverage. KBC and KTN …
Africa Forward Summit and the post-aid era
The Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi was an unambiguous example of how Africa-Europe relations have moved firmly into the post-aid …
Africa’s tourism boom is real. Now it needs open borders and open skies
Africa’s tourism boom is real. In 2025, the continent was the world’s fastest-growing tourism region, with arrivals up about 8% …
Africa Has a Tourism Marketing Problem. Its Beaches Prove It.
Africa’s beaches can compete with the best in the world, but global rankings rarely show it. The problem is not …
Rest in Peace, Mom
We marked my parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary by scattering my mother’s ashes from the Ngong Hills. Facing the Rift Valley, …
