Kenya’s tourist arrivals up nearly 17 percent

Tourism arrivals for Kenya, since November last year, have been rising again after several years of constant downturn.

Tourism arrivals for Kenya, since November last year, have been rising again after several years of constant downturn.

The Kenya Tourism Board is targeting an annual arrival number of over 1.5 million visitors for 2016, i.e. over 400.000 more than in 2015, and early growth forecasts seem to be met by reality on the ground.

Between January and March this year the arrival figures were up by 16.8 percent, as a result of intensified marketing, confidence building measures by the Kenyan government and, of course, the various incentives put in place to draw charter operators back to Mombasa.

The CEO of the Kenya Tourism Board, Mrs. Jacinta Nzioka, a few days ago officially launched the countdown to Kenya’s largest tourism trade show, in fact East Africa’s largest tourism trade show – the Magical Kenya Travel Expo, which will be held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre from 12th to 14th of October.

KTB is targeting over 170 hosted buyers and representatives of international media houses to sample Kenya’s highlights and attractions before then meeting at MKTE to do business.

In a related development it was also learned that over 50 percent of tourist visitors to Kenya now are either domestic travelers or come from the wider Eastern African region and from across the continent with Uganda and Rwanda adding above average numbers.

This is largely attributed to the Visa-free travel for expatriates and foreign residents which can make use of the ‘Interstate Pass’ which gives them Visa-free access to three countries of the East African Community.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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