US, Uganda and UK lead Kenya’s tourist arrivals
The United States has maintained its position as the leading source of international tourists to Kenya, according to the latest report.
The report released by Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala on Friday shows that the country received 924,812 international visitors between January and August compared to 483,240 arrivals in the same period in 2021, representing a 91 per cent surge.
“Kenya’s tourism sector is experiencing a recovery as the Covid-19 pandemic has been contained in most of our key source markets and international travellers are now fully confident to travel,” Mr Balala said.
Data from the ministry showed that inbound tourism earnings in the period under review grew to Sh167 compared to Sh83 billion during the same period in 2021.
Tourism alongside horticulture, tea and diaspora remittances are Kenya’s top foreign exchange-earners.
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Out of the 924,812 international arrivals, 313,466 were on holiday, 274,722 travelled to visit families or friends, 258,889 for business and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE), and 43,883 on transit, with the rest coming in for other purposes including education, religion, and sports.
Mr Balala indicated that the top sources of the country’s foreign visitors were the United States, Uganda, Britain, Tanzania, and India.
Other top sources include Germany, Rwanda, Somalia, Ethiopia, France, South Sudan, Nigeria, South Africa, Canada, Netherlands, the Democratic Republic of Congo, China, Italy, Burundi, Sweden, Poland, Spain, Zimbabwe, and Denmark.
Mr Balala also launched multi-lingual destination videos on Kenya’s cultures, cuisine, vibrant cities, adventure, and other experiences that highlight the destination’s diversity.
The videos target potential tourists from China, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Arabic-speaking countries.
He at the same time said that Kenya’s tourism earnings more than doubled to 167.1 billion shillings in January to August from 83 billion shillings in the same period a year ago.
Tourism alongside horticulture, tea and remittances are Kenya’s top foreign exchange-earners.
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