This archive report was first published on 22 June 2021.
As the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the global economy, Kenyan hotels experienced a surge in domestic demand, with a 21% increase in local clientele at the height of the crisis.
However, this uptick in domestic bookings was insufficient to shield the industry from the economic downturn caused by the pandemic.
According to a survey by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the number of foreign tourists dropped by 21% during the same period.
Before the pandemic, locals accounted for 62% of hotel clients, while foreign tourists made up 38%. However, by March 2020, the percentage of local clientele had risen to 86.5%, while foreign tourists dropped to 13.5%.
By April and May 2021, the numbers had stabilized at 83.8% for local clientele and 16.2% for foreign tourists.
For the restaurant business, the percentage of foreign and local clientele was 31.3% and 68.7% respectively, which changed to 15.8% and 84.2% in March 2020.
Responding hotels attributed the dominance of local guests to low foreign clients due to international travel restrictions imposed during the pandemic period, according to the survey.
Hotels have since intensified their domestic marketing and offered discounted rates to attract local clientele.
The survey covered hotels in various regions, including Machakos, Kiambu, Kajiado, Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Nyeri, Kisii, Eldoret, and Meru.
