My name is Harald Kampa born on 15th of September 1944 in Breslau .. I have grown up in a village called Gersthofen near the city of Augsburg in Bavaria . After successfully passing secondary school , I studied civil engineering at the Technical University in Munich .I finished my studies with a degree of Diplom Engineer which is matching the Masters in other countries .
In 1972 I joined Hochtief the then second largest construction company in Germany. Very soon I was promoted to project manager. Among others I was in charge of the structural design of the construction of 25 primary schools in Portugal.
In 1975 I moved on and joined Landes Gewerbeanstalt Bayern (LGA). LGA is a think tank working for the government of Bavaria .Our section was in charge of controlling the structural design of all buildings larger than a house with 2 flats. Very soon I got promoted and was in charge of an office looking after 3 districts. The project with the highest profile was the construction of the 2 blocks of the nuclearplant in Gundremmingen ( Bavaria) .
In 1990 I left LGA to join the family business in Kenya . I started as Deputy Managing Director. The group of hotels managed and partly or fully owned by the family included Diani Sea Lodge , Blue Marlin Hotel and Lawford’s Hotel . Soon after my arrival we started the construction of the Diani Sea Resort .I supervised planning and construction of the hotel which opened in December 1991.
In 1993 my wife and myself took over the day to day running of the hotels as my father- in-law (Mr. Gerhard Matthiessen) retreated to the position of chairman of the board. Mr. Matthiessen was at this time as well the Honorary Consul for Germany in Mombasa.
In 1995 we constructed a hotel in the city of Leipzig in eastern Germany. At the official opening of the hotel with the name Parkhotel Diani the then minister of tourism of Kenya honourable Katana Ngala was the guest of honour. Today after the Likoni clashes of 1997 the Malindi hotels have been sold and we concentrated our efforts in Diani .
We successfully operate Diani Sea Lodge and Diani Sea Resort. My wife Silvia Matthiessen-Kampa and myself have bought the shares of my parents in law in these companies .Through these purchases we became the majority shareholders . We are as well majority shareholder in Silversands Ltd which owns the plot of the former Trade Winds Hotel .
In 2014 our son Sven and our daughter in law Karla joined us in running the business in Kenya . For the last four years we have renovated Diani Sea Lodge . .At the moment another 70 rooms are renovated . After the completion of this rooms we will have spent about Ksh 300.000,000/ in the renovation of Diani Sea Lodge in the last 5 years.
In 2006 we have started a complete overhaul of Diani Sea Resort which we finished in June 2014. By then we had spent about Ksh 200.000.000/- for renovation and upgrading. A next phase of renovation and upgrading for Diani Sea Resort is planned for next year . In addition we are in the planning phase for the reconstruction of the Trade Winds Hotel.The start of the construction could be in two years.
All the construction and the design is supervised by myself. In addition I was controlling the daily business in both hotels .This job has now been taken over by our son Sven . Diani Sea Resort at present has 220 employees while Diani Sea Lodge has 170. In 2017 we constructed on the plot of Diani Sea Resort an international school with the name Tradewinds Academy .
All our employees are Kenyan . All major management functions are in the hands of family members . In March 2012 I was elected Coast Chairman of Hotel Keepers &Caterers( KAHC) representing 50 hotels at the coast . This position I’m still holding today . In this function I interact with all arms of government e.g. with our present Cs of tourism Hon.Balala . Our CSR program includes the support of Rotary Club of Diani and the support of Gombato Secondary School and other community projects . In February 2013 started a vocational training program at our two hotels using the German Model. We have trained about 200 local youth in various fields of the hospitality sector .
Meanwhile this model of dual vocational training has been adapted by the first hotels in Nairobi with the help of the German Chamber of Commerce Nairobi branch . At the moment we are negotiating With the Kenya Government to have this training institutionalised . This program will help to have better trained staff in the hotels .