Tourism is on the rise in Kenya with an estimated 2 million tourists being recorded to have toured in the last financial year according to the latest data from the Ministry.
The ministry projects that the number is likely to rise this year with data indicating that over 900,000 tourists have already visited the country ahead of the high season.
“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,” Tourism Research Institute acting CEO David Gitonga said while releasing the report in Naivasha. He noted that Kenya earned Ksh 157 billion during the period.
The rise in the numbers has been attributed to improved marketing, the emergence of new markets and new tourism destinations.
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The report findings were released in a stakeholders forum that converged to formulate a Tourism Satellite Account which will be used 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,” he said.
Dr. Geoffrey Manyara from the UN economic commission for Africa said that the project would be carried out in six months adding that this would make Kenya the fourth country to have a TSA.
“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.”
The MD Tourism Finance Corporation Orumoi Jonah said that the players in the sector had continued to invest heavily mainly in the counties.
“The Tourism Satellite Account data will enable TFC to make informed decisions in determining the specific Investments to be done in different parts of the country,” he said.
