Tourism players fault UK on Kenya covid red listing

Tourism industry players led by Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala have lamented the impact of Covid-19 travel restrictions imposed by foreign countries that are hindering international travels in Kenya.

Mr Balala said it’s unfortunate some foreign countries are discriminating against Africa on the travel restrictions.

“These restrictions are uncalled for. Previously, Africa and Kenya in particular have suffered from perceived insecurity. Travel advisories have been issued before against our countries,” he said.

Speaking during a webinar on the impact of Covid-19 on travel restrictions on African economies by the Royal African Society on July 15, Mr Balala lauded African nations for effectively dealing with the pandemic.

“Compared to many other African countries in the world, Africa and particularly Kenya has managed well. Look at our Covid-19 statistics, we have fewer deaths cases,” he noted.

The CS called for regional collaboration, coordination, and cooperation to promote domestic and regional tourism in East Africa.

Hotelier Mohamed Hersi also faulted foreign nations for imposing travel restrictions.

"We are still yet to get any good numbers of arrivals from the US, North America due to all the conditions placed on us. We are making progress, but we are losing out from the British tourists due to the red list from the UK government," said Mr Hersi.

The latest data from the Tourism Research Institute (TRI) shows Kenya received 305, 635 international visitors between January to June this year.

Out of the 305, 635 international tourists, 96,003 were females and 209,632 males.