After a long hiatus, Kenya is seeing massive growth in tourist arrivals in the current year. According to the Kenyan Tourism Ministry officials, the country has seen a growth of 91 pc in foreign tourist arrivals in the period January to August 2022.

Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife Najib Balala told journalists in the Kenyan capital Nairobi that the country received 924,812 international visitors in the first eight months, compared to 483,240 arrivals in the same period in 2021.

“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,” Balala said.

Kenya’s tourism sector is one of the leading sources of foreign exchange earnings alongside tea, horticulture, and diaspora remittances. Balala told the press that Kenya had rolled out innovative products and marketing efforts to ensure that its offerings remained competitive among both domestic and international visitors. He said that the East African nation also hosted several international sporting events that played a major role in rebuilding the confidence of visitors to Kenya.

Data from the ministry showed that inbound tourism earnings between January and August grew to KES 167 billion, about USD 1.39 billion, compared to USD 691 million during the same period in 2021.

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.

Balala observed that the top sources of the country’s foreign visitors were the United States, Uganda, Britain, Tanzania and India. Balala also launched multi-lingual destination videos on Kenya’s cultures, cuisine, vibrant cities, adventure, and other experiences that highlight the destination’s diversity. He noted that the videos target potential tourists from China, France, Spain, Italy, Germany as well as Arabic-speaking countries.