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Kenya’s tourism sector is steadily gaining positive momentum, the latest data from the Tourism Ministry detail.
The data says approximately 2 million tourists visited various sites during the last financial year.
Yet, current projections by the ministry indicate the figure will potentially rise in the current financial year. At least 900,000 tourists have already visited the country ahead of the high season.
While releasing the report during a stakeholders’ forum in Naivasha, Tourism Research Institute acting CEO David Gitonga stated; “Already over 900,000 international tourists have visited the Country and our projections are that this will rise to over 2.1m as the high peak season is ahead of us.”
In the period under review, Kenya earned Ksh 157 billion.
Three aspects credited for the improvement in the sector are; improved marketing, the emergence of new markets and new tourism destinations.
The Naivasha forum aimed at formulating a Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) a new tool significant to measure the impact of the tourism sector to the country’s economy.
The development of TSA is being done based on the TSA methodological framework developed by the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Kenya is the fourth country to have the TSA.
Dr. Geoffrey Manyara from the UN Economic Commission for Africa said that the project would be carried out in six months.
“Currently Africa contributes to 4.5 percent of tourists in the world and the TSA will market the East Africa region so that the number of tourists can rise from the current 5.8m to 35m by 2024,” Dr. Manyara noted.
The MD Tourism Finance Corporation Orumoi Jonah echoed encouraging sentiments saying the Tourism Satellite Account data will enable his team to make informed decisions in determining the specific Investments to be done in different parts of the country.
