On 25th July 1969, a six-year-old Hitesh and his elder sister Bharti came to the UK along with their parents and 5 other siblings. This year they celebrated 52 years of their stay in this country whilst recalling their bitter-sweet departure from Kenya.
Today, Hitesh Mehta and Bharti Shah speak about settling in Britain and remaining connected to their roots by conducting heritage tours to the East African country through Citibond Travel. Their way of giving back to the country of their birth “My father, Vanechand Madhavji Mehta, originally hailed from Gujarat and immigrated to East Africa in pursuit of a better economic future,” recalls Hitesh, Managing Director, Citibond Travel Ltd.
AFRICANISATION AND MOVING TO THE UK
Over the years, Vanechandbhai Mehta would establish his independent wholesale business in Mombasa and owing to business requirements moved around Kenya, exploring the trade market in Naivasha, Kisumu, and Nairobi. Amidst setting up his business, he had married and settled down with his wife Prabhaben. But a new rule introduced by the then African government in 1968 mandated for businesses to have an African partner in the business as part of the government's 'Africanisation' policy.
“We never experienced any security concerns or personally faced any political unrest. But, my father was presented with two options- he could either accept Kenyan nationality or effectively leave the country.
“Being aware of the future growth prospects and opportunities available in this country especially for all the children, my parents decided to retain their British passports and arrived in the UK,” says Bharti Shah, Director, Citibond Travel (London) Ltd.
Thus, the family wound up their business and arrived in the UK with bare minimum resources in their stow. Finding shelter in this country was a challenge for them and with the help of family friends Vanechandbhai eventually, found and rented a modest two-bedroom apartment to accommodate the entire family of 9 and began working in the printing industry, whilst Prabhaben accepted her first job at the local steel factory. Bharti and her sisters lent their contributions to the family as they started working at local retail outfits whilst Hitesh and the younger siblings continued pursuing their education.
Having left behind a life of luxury to come to the UK and make ends meet was a tough period for the family, but Bharti and Hitesh look back on those times as the making of the family unit headed by their parents. Instilling the ethics of honest hard work as the foundation to their lives in the UK.
FAMILY BUSINESS OFFERING BESPOKE TRAVEL EXPERIENCES TO OTHER FAMILIES
In those early days, our parents like many other immigrant families only travelled abroad to Kenya or India to visit family or friends. They could not afford any holidays beyond that. It was in 1985 when Hitesh, Bharti and Kishore bought Citibond Travel a small firm in West End. Citibond’s Role then was to establish relationships with Airlines and wholesale to the industry, we have since evolved further to retail for flights only, Tailor made worldwide packages and escorted tours to the community. 34 Years later and still going by the examples set by their parents, Citibond is still a family run business with offices in London and Leicester.
Today, Citibond's clientele still pre-dominantly comprises of Asian families who have come from East Africa and settled in the UK. Studying the market trend cycles wherein Asian families have economically progressed over recent years, Citibond, now offers exotic holiday packages to their customers across the world.
Their two offices in Northwest London and one in Leicester have also started offering personalised packages around 'Heritage Tourism'.
“During my first visit back to Kenya, Bharti and I had taken our children with us to the house in Naivasha, the town where I was born in. This sparked the idea in me of these tours and in a way give back to Kenya, our place of birth. As a result, we now offer custom tours to Kenya whereupon special request a tour to their childhood towns, or villages can be arranged alongside safaris and beach stays” explains Hitesh
“These tours not only allow families like ours to enjoy a holiday of a lifetime , but we also take them to go back to their place of birth and to visit their old homes, schools and much more, our “Back to the Roots trips”
He adds, “apart from a 5 star holiday it is also an education to the younger generation of where their parents and grand-parents came from. Kenya was our place of birth, but it is also a fantastic holiday destination. We conduct many tours, where we have 3 generations of the same family travelling together to get this experience. There is no holiday like it!”
Citibond Travels works with local staff on the ground in East Africa who inspect the tourist destinations to ensure a safe and special experience for their customers. Today, the company brings to the forefront not just heritage tourism in the East African country but also offers breathtaking safaris and insight into its panaromic wildlife and more.
