CRI听力:The University Attack: a Blow to Kenya's Tourism and Education

Hotels along Kenya's coast, as well as game park reserves, say they're already starting to see tourists cancelling trips.

The damage is expected to become clearer later on this Tuesday.

This is when European tour operators return to work after the Easter holiday.

Mohammed Hersi is the chair of Kenya's Coast Tourism Association.

"The status of the tourism industry, especially at the coast, is not good at all. The persistent advisories even on non-essentials is not helping us at all and the recent attack may not have happened in Mombasa but happened in Garrisa where we lost many young people which is very very unfortunate that equally paints the destination in a negative picture."

As a vital part of the national economy, Kenya's tourism industry has already been in a decline since 2013 when al-Shabaab militants stormed an upscale shopping mall in the capital Nairobi, leaving 67 people dead.

Since then, repeated al-Shabaab attacks have prompted travel warnings by countries like Britain, the United States and Australia, among others.

In response, Mohammed Hersi says many hotel staff have decided to take pay cuts as deep as 50-percent to avoid being laid off completely.

"For us to survive, many hotels have sent staff on unpaid leave, some are actually laying off people, others are retrenching and some are actually taking pay cuts."

At the same time, hundreds of Kenyans have begun a three-day blood drive for those injured in the attack on Garissa University.

"I came here today to donate blood for our brothers and sisters who survived in Garissa, some have lost their lives, but the blood will go a long way to help them recover quickly."

Four years ago, Garissa University College opened its doors as northern Kenya's first university.

However, the university has been shut down after the attack.

It's future remains uncertian.

For CRI, I am Wang Mengzhen.