Kenya’s tourism sector is performing better than the global average as the industry continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic set back.
Industry figures shows that in 2022 the sector recovery stood at 72 percent from the 2019 visitor arrival levels, this is above the global recovery levels of 63 percent.
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Easing of the Covid-19 restrictions and opening up the airspace of source countries saw the number of international visitor arrivals into Kenya hit 1,483,752, an increase from 870,465 recorded in 2021.
This in turn saw inbound tourism revenues in the year grow by 83 percent to Sh268.09 billion compared to Sh146.51 billion the previous year.
Before the onset of Covid-19, the number of visitors to Kenya had crossed the 2 million mark.
A 2022 report by the Ministry of Tourism shows that the last quarter of 2022 posted the highest level of recovery at an average of 81 percent, with December 2022 registering the highest recovery rate of 91 percent.
Over the years, the month of August is usually the high season but in 2022 arrivals declined.
This was attributed to election jitters among travellers in Kenya's key source markets.
“However, since the elections were peaceful, the subsequent months performed well and growth was sustained with an impressive performance in December,” said Tourism Cabinet Secretary Peninah Malonza.
The CS added that if the growth is sustained, most tourism sectors will recover faster than earlier projected while others will surpass the 2019 arrivals, revenues generated, and bed occupancies.
In 2022, of the nearly 1.5 million visitors who arrived in the country, 36.6 percent were visitors on holiday.
This was followed by visits for friends and family at 27.8 percent of the total while arrivals on business and MICE came at a close third with 27.2percent of the total visitation.
United States of America still leads as the source market for Kenya's tourists with 209,360, which was 16percent of the total.
Uganda, the United Kingdom, and the United Republic of Tanzania with 12 percent, 10 percent, and 10 percent market share closely followed this respectively.
The extent of recovery from the USA market was at 82percent compared to 2019, when it yielded 245,437 arrivals.
Also, worth noting was the UK market performance whose extent of recovery was at 72 percent, having yielded 181,484 arrivals in 2019.
The other source markets with a no figure number of visitor arrivals were India, Germany, Rwanda, and Somalia. Notably 12 of the 30 top market performers last year were from Europe, which together had a share of 40percent of the total.
Australia recorded the best rate of recovery being the most improved source market country. The arriving visitors increased from 3,376 in 2021 to 11,931 in 2022, translating to a 253 percent growth.
Italy was second, with arrival numbers increasing from 12,207 in 2021 to 31,301, which translated to a 156 percent growth.
The USA market, which has been the leading market, also recorded commendable growth from 136,981 in the year 2021 to 209,360 for the year under review (53 percent).
Australia and Canada have performed well in spite of minimal marketing efforts.
In the period under review it was noted that many tourist using road as mode of transport came through Busia border at 31 percent followed by Namanga at 25 percent and Malaba at 11 percent.
A total 562 visitors used water as mode of transport through Kilindini harbour.
