Kenya’s tourism bounces back on political stability, direct flights to NYC

Kenya’s tourism performance for the year 2018 has seen a substantial improvement compared to 2017 in both tourism arrivals, domestic tourism performance and earnings, buoyed by political stability and direct flights to the US by national carrier Kenya Airways.

Latest data by tourism ministry shows that domestic tourists mainly contributed to that jump, which rose from 3,6million bed capacity in 2017 to in excess of 3.9million last year, while international tourists stood at more than 1.5million visitors.

Tourism arrivals for the year 2018 are at 2,025,206. The arrivals data captures all the visitor arrivals via international flights, international commercial charters, all private charters and entry through land borders connecting Kenya to its neighbors, as well as entry through the Indian Ocean ports.

2018 saw a significant growth of 37.33 per cent compared to 2017 where there were 1,474,671 international arrivals.

Tourism Receipts for 2018 stood at Sh 157,386,151,000. The receipts have increased by 31.2 per cent compared to 2017 receipts of Sh 119,900,000,000 to record the highest earnings. Domestic Tourism Domestic bed nights for the year 2018 were estimated at 3,974,243, a 9.03 percent increase compared to 2017 data of 3,645,243.