In recent years sustainable tourism has been promoted in policy documents, strategic plans
and the academic literature related to tourism. There have been numerous attempts to define
the term, yet few have explored the role and status of tour operators who directly influence
the types of tourists brought to an area as well as the visitors’ expectations and activities.
In this study, the focus is on two popular travel destinations in Kenya that is Amboseli
National Park and Masai Mara National Reserve with particular attention to the roles of
the tour operators within the ecotourism sector. The study was done due to the limited
research in this area especially from the tour operator perspective in Kenya. The study
adopted a questionnaire survey with ten tour operators from each study area. The results
show that tour operators have a pivotal role in shaping the development of tourism destinations
and the nature of ecotourism demand. There should also be an enhanced relationship
between the tour operators and the local communities.