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Submitted by: ASC Customer Service

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<font face=verdana size=2>The Kenyan tourist industry suffered a big setback due to the political unrest in January 2008 which had an enormous impact on the economy in Kenya. It?s been estimated the crisis caused the loss of over 20,000 jobs in the Kenyan Tourism Industry in the immediate aftermath and many more since. Many hotels had to close down which led to the sacking of all their staff and some hotels offered only 30% salaries if the staff wished to carry on with their employment. In this period African Safari Club actually increased the salaries of its staff by 27% according to the Union agreement which was the opposite of what other hotels were doing. However there has been legitimate concern over issues at African Safari Club with regards to a backlog in payment of salaries for staff dating back from the unrest of 2008. This is the number one company priority and we are reducing the backlog in salaries all the time but we must continue to do this at a rate that is financially responsible. All staff now receive their normal salaries plus back-pay as per the union agreement. African Safari Club has been operating in Kenya for 40 years and we are committed to continuing to offer high quality holidays for people who wish to visit this beautiful country and much needed employment opportunities for Kenyans for many years to come. African Safari Club was one of the few hotel operators that did not declare everyone as redundant and close down during the unrest in 2008. Instead, they opted to continue and keep the large number of remaining employees with a reduced income even when the tourism industry was brought to the point of collapse by the unrest. African Safari Club has always honoured the Labour laws of Kenya and has also continued to honour the agreements made with the Union and its 700 employees. Please be aware that Kenya is still suffering from large scale unemployment due to the 2008 political crisis and the revival of the tourism industry has been highlighted as one of key sectors by those who are looking to turn the countries fortunes around. African Safari Club will be one of the companies that will bring visitors back to Kenya and with them the opportunity for many Kenyans to achieve stable employment. On a positive note the number of tourism arrivals has risen 90 percent from the 2008 levels, according to tourism minister Najib Balala, and are expected to return to 2007 levels by next year. To capitalise on this African Safari Club has completed some significant restructuring within the Company and our staff, both in the UK and Mombasa, have been working extremely hard towards improving standards and the levels of service at all its hotels and operations in Kenya.

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