NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 19 – Kenya’s tourism earnings grew by 65.4 percent last year to Sh146.51bn compared to Sh88. 56bn in 2020, Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala has said noting the sector is slowly recovering from the effects of Covid-19.
According to the 2021 sector statistics, the USA was the top source market for tourists with 136,981 arrivals.
Uganda came in second with 80, 067 arrivals followed by Tanzania and UK with 74,051 and 53,264 arrivals each.
Overall, international visitor arrivals in 2021 stood at 870,465 with Jomo Kenyatta International Airport being the leading entry point followed by Moi International Airport (48,749.)
From January to September 2021, the Tourism Research Institute (TRI) report noted that bed occupancy rates increased to 4,138,821 as compared to the same period in 2020 (2,575,812) recording a recovery of 60.7 percent.
This sustained recovery of the hospitality sector was largely supported by domestic travelers with domestic bed nights growing by 101.3 percent while international bed nights grew by 0.05 percent.
“These bed nights recovery trends are an indication that the hospitality sector in Kenya has largely been supported by domestic travel in 2021,” the report noted.
