This archive report was first published on 4 May 2021.
As the world grappled with the Covid-19 pandemic, Kenya's tourism industry suffered a significant blow, with a 72% drop in tourists' numbers.
According to a report by the East African Business Council (EABC), released on April 26, 2021, the country lost its largest tourism markets, China and South Africa, with arrivals from these two nations dropping by 80.6% and 75.9% respectively.
While China was not the leading tourist market in 2019, it was Kenya's fourth-largest internationally, with the United States leading the pack and Uganda being the leading tourist market in Africa.
Kenya received 245,437 visitors from the US in 2019, a number that dropped to 65,377 in 2020. In the same year, Kenya received 223,010 visitors from Uganda, which dropped by 69.7% to 67,572 in 2020.
South Africa, Kenya's third-largest market in the region after Uganda and Tanzania, recorded the biggest drop, with a 75.9% decline from 46,926 in 2019 to 11,313 in 2020.
Other countries that saw significant drops in tourist arrivals include Rwanda, with a 67.2% reduction, and the United Kingdom, with a 72.5% drop.
The pandemic also had a devastating impact on the tourism sector, with 394,875 jobs lost and revenue slumping by 72% to Sh53.1 billion from 189.7 billion in 2019 and Sh152.8 billion in 2018.
