Tourism sector on rebound as arrivals grow by 18 per cent
Tourists at the Serena Beach Hotel in Mombasa. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
The number of international visitors rose to 655,058 in the year to September, up from 555,856 in a similar period last year.
Official data shows that tourism earned the country Sh84.6 billion last year, down from Sh87.1 billion in 2014 and Sh97.9 billion in 2011.
Tourist arrivals grew by 17.8 per cent in the first nine months of the year, underlining a rebound for a sector that has been losing cash over the past six years.
The number of international visitors rose to 655,058 in the year to September, up from 555,856 in a similar period last year when arrivals had slumped by 20 per cent, according to data from Kenya Tourism Board (KTB).
The growth is welcome news to hoteliers who have been forced to cut jobs, slash pay and close shop following the crippling effects of several travel alerts issued in 2014 after a spate of terrorist attacks on holiday getaway towns.
Tourism was once the highest foreign exchange earner, but has been declining over the years.
Official data shows that tourism earned the country Sh84.6 billion last year, down from Sh87.1 billion in 2014 and Sh97.9 billion in 2011.
Kenya’s coastal resort city of Mombasa recorded the fastest rebound in the review period, growing by 23 per cent to 65,600 foreign visitors who came in through Moi International Airport.
A majority of foreign visitors to Mombasa are holidaymakers looking to enjoy the warm weather in the palm-fringed sandy beaches and resorts. The bulk of international visitors arrived through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in the capital Nairobi.
KTB data shows that 589,458 visitors landed through JKIA in the year to September, accounting for 90 per cent of total arrivals and underlining the crucial role of the country’s main airport.
Kenya has this year hosted high-level global conferences that have attracted thousands of attendants, including the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad).
Ministry of Tourism officials recently said plans are afoot to set up a fund from which hoteliers will access cheap loans at interest rates of nine per cent to spruce up their facilities and attract more tourists.
Kenya is also keen to diversify its tourism portfolio on top of its traditional game drives in wildlife parks to include gastronomy (food festivals), cultural festivals, conferences and meetings.
Past terrorism attacks had caused a big drop in foreign visitor arrivals after Western nations issued travel advisories.
This partly saw the weakening of the shilling to the US dollar last year as the drop in arrivals threatened to cut the inflows of hard currency.
The US and Britain have since lifted their travel advisories on coastal holiday-making towns of Mombasa and Malindi, raising hopes of a faster sector revival.
