Foreign tourists boost occupancy rate in local hotels

The number of foreign guests in hotels rose in September, indicating improving optimism in the sector with the easing of international travel restrictions.

A Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) hotel survey shows accommodation by foreign visitors jumped to 20.5 percent in September from 19.8 percent in July.

The foreign visitors took 21.1 percent in restaurant services from 18.9 percent. They, however, remain below the pre-Covid period levels when accommodation was at 38.0 and 31.3 percent for restaurant services.

Local guests took up 79.5 percent of the accommodation and 78.9 percent of restaurant services. Some tourist source markets like the US and some European countries have been relaxing travel restrictions for the citizens, supporting entry into the country.

“The survey recorded an improvement in the share of foreign clientele in both accommodation and restaurant services. This is supported by the continued reduction in international travel restrictions as countries intensify Covid-19 vaccination,” CBK stated.

"This is reflected in the number of international tourist arrivals that increased by 15 percent between July and August 2021. In addition, the World U20 athletics championship boosted the number of foreign guests using the hotel services.”

Most countries suspended their flights on the onset of the pandemic last year, hutting the industry that has been dependent on international travel.

Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics show arrivals through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Moi Airport dropped by 19.1 percent in the six months to June to 235,046 from 290,548 in a similar period last year.

There was a drastic drop in arrivals from April that recorded nine visitors, picking up slowly in August with 16,762. This year, the monthly average arrivals are 39,174.

The fall in numbers pushed hoteliers into losses estimated at billions of shillings as they scaled down operations for months due to a lack of traffic.