Tourism players anticipate rebound in international arrivals

Tourism industry players are optimistic about a rebound amid a pandemic following the arrival of more than 300,000 international visitors in the first half of this year.

The sector suffered a devastating slump because of Covid-19 but players are forging recovery strategies and said this year’s projections are good.

Kenya received 305, 635 international visitors between January and June this year, the latest statistics from the Tourism Research Institute (TRI) show.

Of that number, 96,003 were females and 209,632 males, said Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala.

Releasing the international tourism performance for the January-June period, Mr Balala said the United States was Kenya’s top source market (49,178 arrivals) followed by Uganda (31,418), Tanzania (31,291, China (18,069), the UK (16,264), India (13,950) and Rwanda (9,800).

Others are Somalia (9,194), Nigeria (8,267) and Ethiopia (7,487).
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) recorded 218,992 arrivals, Moi International Airport 16, 054, and Wilson 1,305. Other points of entry recorded 69,284.

“Some 92,828 visited the country for business and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) sector, 15,811 transit, 3,592 medical, 1,722 religion, 1,175 sports, 8637 education, 87,629 for holiday and 94,241 visiting family or friends,” said a TRI statement.

The sector continues to be hit hard by the pandemic, with some beach hotels in the Coast region, Kenya’s tourism hub, remaining shut.

But industry players, led by immediate former Kenya Tourism Federation chairman Mohamed Hersi, the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers Coast executive Sam Ikwaye and Mombasa County Tourism and Trade Chief Officer Aisha Abdi said the numbers are the result of vigorous marketing strategies employed by the national and county governments.

Mombasa is revitalising and refreshing its beach products to attract more international and regional tourists, Mr Abdi said.

“Mombasa embarked on an overdrive to increase tourist numbers through the sister cities programme, which saw charter flights from Ukraine landing at MIA, making their maiden flight during the pandemic,” she told Nation.Africa.

“The county is also working closely with Morocco and a number of countries through the same programme.”

The city is rebounding as a MICE destination promoting meetings, conferences and sports tourism to tap the domestic and regional markets, she said.

“But we still have a long way to go. We are just cracking the surface. We are still yet to fit any good numbers from the US, North America due to all the conditions placed on us,” Mr Hersi said.

“We are making progress. We are losing out from the British tourists due to the red list (issued by) the UK government.”.

He urged the UK government to remove Kenya from the list, which names destinations officials define as high-risk for new and emerging strains of the coronavirus. Visitors from those countries must quarantine in the UK on arrival.

Mr Hersi said the vaccination drive will boost tourism as he lauded the private sector for vigorously marketing Kenya as the best tourism hub.

“We are keeping close touch with our travel and tourism agents abroad to sell and promote Kenya as a destination,” he said.

Dr Ikwaye described the numbers as fair and a good sign of recovery compared with last year, when the industry suffered a major slump due to cancellations.

“At least there’s some activity compared with last year. Many destinations have suffered, many projections were not realized,” Dr Ikwaye said.

“But the fact that we have direct flights to Mombasa is a sign of healthy destination and further speaks to our ability to manage the pandemic. It is not all gloom.”  

In an interview with Nation.Africa, the hotelier said Kenya did not experience serious disruptions like other countries.

“Because we managed our healthcare system very well, government protocols worked well and industry players supported all the containment measures,” he said.

“We are now (gaining) from it. Destinations like Lamu received high-end tourists. Kenya is still among places considered as the best holiday destinations.”

Tourism players need to focus on special packages to attract more tourists, he advised.

“We have seen a lot of enquiries in Diani and part of Mombasa. We are looking at a busy end of July for the one-week school closure, which is positive.”

The Coast region is enjoying 40 percent bed capacity, with most hotels that had closed beginning to reopen.

“The projections are likely to grow. Staff are coming back. Most employees are paid on rotation to cushion the workers.”

Dr Ikwaye said 2020 was the worst period in the tourism calendar.

TRI figures show some 470,971 tourists visited Kenya from January to October 2020 compared with 1.7 million in 2019. International tourism declined by 72 percent in the same period.

Hoteliers are adopting strategies to revamp international tourism, collapsed in the last two years due to the pandemic. 

Among the strategies are improvements in infrastructure, marketing and connectivity.

Right now the players are relying on domestic tourists.

North Coast is the worst hit destination as most hotels are yet to reopen, leaving over 2,000 workers jobless.

Almost all hotels in Malindi are still shut. The tourism hub relies on international tourists.

Tourism is the Coast region’s economic lifeline, directly employing about 12,000 workers. Half of them are working on 50 per cent salary due to the economic downturn as hoteliers scaled down operations, with most hotels remaining shut.