This archive report was first published on 16 July 2021.
Kenya's tourism industry is slowly recovering from the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which saw it hit historical lows in 2020.
According to the Tourism Ministry, the industry lost Sh110 billion last year due to global travel restrictions, raking in a paltry Sh37 billion against a projected Sh147.5 billion.
However, the numbers have shown a degree of recovery over the first half of this year, with the country receiving 305,635 international arrivals in the six months to June.
Of these arrivals, about a third (94,241) were mostly Kenyans visiting their friends and family, while business and conference tourists stood at 92,828, and holidaymakers were 92,629.
"We are encouraged by the numbers, although we are not there yet because this is only a fifth of the two million visitors we received in 2019," said Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala.
The top five tourist source markets over the six months were the US (49,178), Uganda (31,418), Tanzania (31,291), China (18,069), and the United Kingdom (16,264).
However, the UK has traditionally been the top source market for the local industry but slid following a spat with Kenya that saw it place the country on its Covid-19 red list, restricting passenger travel between the two countries.
"At the same time, we can see the UK dropped to number five due to the effects of the unfair travel restrictions and putting Kenya in the red list despite our Covid-19 numbers giving a different scenario," said Balala.
Despite the challenges, the industry has traditionally been the largest foreign exchange earner for the country, earning Sh163 billion in 2019, ahead of tea and horticulture.
Tea earnings grew 15 per cent to Sh120 billion, while horticulture earnings grew to Sh148 billion last year from Sh143 billion in 2019.
