This archive report was first published on 13 August 2019.
On August 13, 2019, the Kenyan government announced plans to create a new tool to estimate the value of tourism to the country's economy.
The Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) will measure the contribution of tourists to related sectors, their spending patterns, and the jobs created as a result of their expenditure.
According to the Tourism Research Institute (TRI), the agency developing the tool, the TSA will provide valuable market intelligence and publicity for the tourism sector.
‘Since the accounts distinguish the numbers and expenditure of different tourist markets by origin, the yield contribution measures can be developed per tourist and by source market,’ said TRI.
The tool will also enable the government to measure the multiplier effect of tourism expenditure on the whole economy, providing information on who is supplying goods and services to tourists and how demand is being met.
Currently, official data only provides figures on activities such as visitor arrivals, hotel bookings, and bed occupancy, but not the aggregate contribution of tourism to the economy.
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) data shows that international visitor arrivals increased by 14% from 1.77 million in 2017 to 2.03 million last year, pushing up the sector's earnings by 31.2% to Sh157.4 billion in 2018.
