•Key market sources remain the US, Africa (mainly East African neighbours led by Uganda), European markets and a strong emergence of the Asian market mainly China.
•According to Kenya Tourism Board, the sector’s performance has been bolstered by strong recovery in both core and emerging markets.
Image: FILE
Strong recovery in the global tourism sector in the post-Covid pandemic period has seen Kenya record a strong performance this year, with numbers expected to cross the two million mark.
International arrivals for the year to October were 1.6 million, preliminary data seen by the Star indicates, representing a 34 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2022, which recorded 1.2 million visitors.
This is also above last year’s 1,483,752 full-year arrivals when the sector started picking up from the pandemic, as numbers grew 70.45 per cent compared to 2021 arrivals of 870,465.
The destination hence witnessed a notable increase in visitor arrivals, marking a significant step toward the recovery of Kenya’s tourism industry.
With an average arrival of 200,000 a month, especially over the last quarter of the year which comes with the festivities, industry players are optimistic numbers could cross the two million mark, but confident of at least over 1.9 million visitors.
This comes as the country walks the journey towards full recovery and hitting new levels past the 2.04 million visitors recorded in 2019, which remains the country’s best year.
Key market sources remain the US, Africa (mainly East African neighbours led by Uganda), European markets and a strong emergence of the Asian market mainly China.
According to Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), the country’s lead state marketing agency, the sector’s performance has been bolstered by strong recovery in both core and emerging markets.
There has been a substantial resurgence in travel from established markets such as the US and Europe, KTB acting chief executive John Chirchir said yesterday.
“Additionally, there has been considerable growth from African markets with Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and even South Sudan forming a remarkable percentage of the top visitor-contributing countries for Kenya,” Chirchir noted.
For instance, Uganda, with a 10 per cent market share, ranks second overall, followed closely by Tanzania with an 8 per cent market share. The US leads with a 14 per cent share.
“These figures not only indicate the successful push for a shared regional tourism market strategy but are also indicative of the growth potential within intra-Africa travel,” said Chirchir.
According to the Tourism Research Institute (TRI), Africa is emerging as Kenya's largest tourism source market edging out traditional regions like Europe and the US, according to a recent survey.
The Tourism Exit Survey report (2023) shows that in the first half of this year, African travellers formed the bulk of travellers exiting Kenya, having been in the country on holiday.
“Most respondents visiting the country were from Africa (42%) which is a significant shift from the previous survey findings of 2019, which had revealed that Europe dominated consumption of Kenya’s tourism product at 50.2%, while it appears to be taking second place after Africa in this survey,” the report reads in part.
Meanwhile, the emerging markets, namely India and China, persistently
display signs of progress, according to KTB, which pegs the surge to significant developments in the past year.
This includes the resumption of the China Southern Airlines flight in February and the initiation of direct flights between Mumbai and Nairobi via Indigo Air.
Notably, the ten months leading to October 2023 witnessed the arrival of 44,586 tourists from China, a significant rise from the previous year’s 17,205.
Similarly, India recorded 80,320 arrivals, denoting a 14.6 per cent increase from 70,087 visitors in 2022.
“There has also been remarkable progress on the domestic tourism front thanks in part to the success of innovative marketing campaigns such as ‘You Deserve a Holiday’,” Chirchir said.
TRI, the sector statistician, projects earnings will grow to Sh359.1 billion this year and then Sh396.1 billion next year, when arrivals are projected at 2, 200,448.
This is up from Sh268.1 billion last year.
“The projections were informed by global economic factors and Covid recovery patterns. The effects of the Russia invasion of Ukraine on some key markets and global tourism supply channels were also taken on board,” TRI acting chief executive David Gitonga told the Star.
Kenya is seeking to grow international arrivals to 5.5 million in the next five years.