Booming business for hotels as holidays begin

Recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic has been slow for the hotel and tourism industry, albeit promising for the last one year.

This year’s December festivities are however proving to be quite something for the industry as its fortunes turn around from the pandemic blow.

Mombasa and Diani are already full of holidaymakers with most facilities reporting no rooms for this week and the New Year week.

Reservations started as early as October according to industry players, mainly from the domestic market.

“For Christmas and New Year, most facilities are full,” Kenya Coast Tourism Association (KCTA) chief executive officer Julius Owino told the Star. 

Other destinations such as Malindi and Lamu are also reaping this year with travel agents reporting good business.

"We had a lot of cancellations last year but this year is different. More destinations are open and the volumes are significantly higher,” Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) chairperson Shazmin Manji told the Star.

In Maasai Mara, the numbers are also looking good attracting domestic and international visitors.

Sector players say, they expect a flow over into mid-January, thanks to the long school holiday.

“This year will be better than last year. The domestic market is contributing well to the recovery,” Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers (KAHC) chief executive Mike Macharia said.

He says the industry is seeing a steady recovery from the effects of Covid.

Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) director Bobby Kamani noted that this year’s numbers have significantly improved in comparison to previous years.

"Diani has flourished as a region and we expect it do so well into 2023, when we expect travel to get back to pre-pandemic levels," said Kamani who is also the Diani Reef Beach Resort managing director.

While the domestic market remains the biggest source since the pandemic struck, there is a good response from the international market, he adds.

"Whilst we cannot compare 2022 to 2021 in terms of tourism arrivals due to the pandemic, we can say that there has been a tremendous increase in travel, both regionally and internationally," Kamani said.

The service sector is among key drivers of the economy this year, according to the Central Bank. 

"The economy is expected to remain strong in the last quarter of 2022, supported by the services sector despite subdued performance in agriculture and weaker global growth,” CBK notes in its latest post-Monetary Policy Committee statement.

Overall Kenya's tourism industry is on a recovery path with international arrivals expected to more than double this year compared to last year.

In the year to August, the country recorded a 91.3 per cent increase in the number of foreign tourists.

Total arrivals for the eight months period were 924,812, up from 483, 246 international tourists who visited the country in the same period last year, data by the Tourist Research Institute (TRI) indicates.

Inbound tourism earnings more than doubled to Sh167.1 billion compared to the Sh83.2 billion recorded in a similar period last year.

Holiday has remained the main purpose of visiting Kenya by international tourists with a total of 313,466 visitors coming to the country for holiday during the period under review.

This was followed those visiting family and friends whose total was 274, 722 while Business and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibition) attracted 258, 889 visitors.

Total arrivals for this year are projected to reach 1.4 million.

This is up from 870, 467 recorded in full year 2021, which was a growth from 567. 848 arrivals in 2020, a year that the industry took a beating from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earnings are expected to grow to Sh265.4 billion up from Sh146.5 billion recorded in full year 2021.

Kenya forecasts to have 1.9 million international tourists next year with the number expected to grow to 2.2 million in 2024.

Full recovery on international numbers is expected between 2023 and 2024, according to the country’s tourism ministry.

The country’s best year currently remains 2019 when arrivals hit a high of 2.04 million visitors with earnings of Sh296.2 billion.