Kenya’s tourism earnings nearly doubled to $2.12 billion (Ksh 268.09 billion) in 2022, driven by a 70% rise in international visitors compared to Ksh 146.51 billion in 2021.
International tourist arrivals in the year were 1483752, compared to 2021 arrivals of 870465, mainly from the United States and India.
About 12% came from Uganda, and 10% came from the United Kingdom.
”Because of the nature of the relationship we have with the U.S., of course, and of course, the nature of the numbers, says Peninah Malonza, minister of tourism, wildlife and heritage, during the launch Kenya’s tourism sector performance report 2022.
“If you do proper marketing in any country and if that country has good numbers, looking at the population of the U.S. is quite a large population and this is our traditional market,” she said.
Flight landings in Kenya’s airports increased by 38% to 62,000 in 2022 which was only 13% shy of the pre-Covid-19 performance. JKIA registered a flight landings growth of 44%, MIA registered growth of 33%, and Kisumu International Airport by 31%. pic.twitter.com/wCjLLmjEqP
— Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife & Heritage (@Min_TourismKE) February 22, 2023
The number of visitors to Kenya was higher than in 2021 but lower than in 2019. The recovery rate of 72.4% against 2019 arrivals was higher than the global average of 63% recovery, which was attributed to relaxed travel restrictions that allowed leisure and business travel.
Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism forecast a 60% jump in earnings to a record $3.4 billion in 2023.
The tourism sector accounts for 10.4% of Kenya’s economy and 5.5% of formal employment.