Over the weekend, publicist Anyiko Owoko went ham on Giraffe Manor claiming they discriminated against her and her pal.
In an Instagram post, Anyiko responded to a travel agency that was asking people to visit the exclusive establishment.
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Anyiko responded saying,
“Dear Giraffe Manor Management @thesafaricollection You are cancelled & we don’t need to be welcomed into Giraffe Manor, only now that you need KENYANS because all your white rich guests can’t travel into your establishment because of the Corona. My friend @smilesbeckwith [a travel consultant and owner of a travel company] tried to book a stay with you, last year between Sept and Oct, we called your establishment to inquire if we could stay a night – there was no space available because you were booked out, completely understandable. But when we requested to come have breakfast and just see the giraffes we were slapped with an exorbitant rate [over 600 USD] which included a driver, chauffeur, airport transfer and a vehicle BUT when we requested to pay only for the breakfast and to see giraffes and not have to pay for the car and airport transfer because we are Kenyans and commuting from the city, your bookings department refused and said that we had to pay the full amount because it is your policy.
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For the longest time, your policy has been to have these type of pricing that only benefit non-Kenyans and tourists coming from outside Kenya. I wonder why all over sudden you are welcoming Kenyans into your establishment. Is it because you now need us for your business to survive? You would not have invited us had it not been for the fact that your business, just like all others, is suffering because of the Covid restrictions.
No thanks, I don’t want to come to your establishment and urge all Kenyans to cancel and boycott your establishment that has made it terribly difficult for Kenyans to access. You obviously have the right to run your property the way you deem fit and even have policies that benefit your business structure, just don’t include Kenyans now only because you need us and you wouldn’t have had it that way earlier. YOUR OWN POST SHOWS THAT YOU WERE NOT OPEN TO ALL KENYANS BEFORE! WHY “NOW OPEN TO KENYANS.”
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#BoycottgiraffeManor Instead Go to Nairobi National Park, Maasai Mara and especially Samburu national reserve and all conservancies/parks in Kenya to see Giraffes and you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for it. After all, this is our heritage.”
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This post set off a long discussion on Twitter with KOT debating whether the establishment should be boycotted or not.
Responding to this, Giraffe Manor put out a statement denying they discriminated against Kenyan customers.
They explained, “We are disappointed to read accusations implying any form of discrimination at Giraffe Manor.
Unfortunately the wording in the advertisement posted by the independent agent was misconstrued to indicate that we were previously not open to Kenyans.
This is factually incorrect.”
Adding,
“In regards to our admission policy, due to the popularity of the property we have many requests to visit Giraffe Manor at different times but unfortunately we are only able to offer an all-inclusive package which includes a night at the manor inclusive of breakfast.”
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The statement explained further,
“Like many luxury safari destinations, we do not offer breakfast as a stand-alone service and as an extremely intimate property we are unable to facilitate walk-ins at any time.
We regret if this policy means disappointment for some but it is necessitated by the desire to ensure the absolute best and safest environment for the giraffes, our staff and guests.”
The travel agency that put out a social media post announcing the opening of Giraffe Manor apologized for what was deemed at misleading wording.
Check out the apology below.
