Kenyan Government has revealed that the tourism industry, one of the East African nation’s top sources of hard currency, surged 83 per cent in 2022 to 268 billion shillings ($2.13 billion) as COVID-19 curbs eased.
According to reuters.com, visitors rebounded to 72 per cent of their pre-pandemic level in 2019. Tourism Minister, Peninah Malonza told reporters, that Kenya offered beach holidays along its Indian Ocean coastline and wildlife safaris inland. The Unites States was the main source of visitors during the year, followed by Uganda, Britain and Tanzania.
China, which had been a growing source market before the pandemic struck, started to ease travel restrictions this year.
Kenyan authorities will focus their marketing efforts on emerging markets like Rwanda, Nigeria and Ethiopia, Malonza said.The Chief Executive, State Tourism Research Institute, David Gitonga, said: “Tourism earnings are projected to rise to 425 billion shillings ($3.37 billion) this year, before increasing to 540 billion shillings in 2027.”
Chairman of parliament’s tourism and wildlife committee, Kareke Mbiuki, said the sector was also facing serious challenges, citing cuts for infrastructure required by the sector, as part of a broader austerity drive by the government.
SOURCE: THISDAY
