Africa’s tourism industry is entering a period of significant opportunity. Visitor numbers are recovering, countries are progressively opening their borders and governments are increasingly recognising tourism as a major contributor to economic growth, employment and foreign exchange. Yet despite the continent’s enormous tourism assets, investment continues to fall short of potential. The challenge is no longer simply attracting travellers to Africa; it is creating an environment in which investors can confidently commit capital, develop projects and operate businesses over the long term.

One of the most visible changes has been the gradual improvement in visa openness across the continent. Visa-free intra-African travel increased from about 20 per cent in 2016 to 28 per cent in 2025, while several countries have introduced more liberal visa policies to encourage regional mobility. This is important for tourism because easier movement expands the potential market for hotels, airlines, tour operators, attractions and other tourism businesses. However, greater access alone cannot guarantee investment. An investor may be able to enter a country easily as a visitor and still encounter significant obstacles when attempting to establish a tourism business. Read the eTurboNews analysis

The more fundamental question is whether destinations have the infrastructure and operating environment required to support investment. Tourism projects depend on reliable roads, airports, electricity, water, telecommunications and other essential services. In many emerging destinations, investors may have to absorb some of these infrastructure costs themselves, significantly increasing the amount of capital required before a project can become operational. The result is that destinations with strong tourism potential can remain commercially unattractive because the cost and complexity of developing the supporting infrastructure are simply too high.

Land is another major consideration. Tourism development requires long-term confidence that investors can legally acquire, lease or develop land and that those rights will remain secure throughout the life of the investment. Research highlighted in the eTurboNews analysis identified land-tenure insecurity as one of the most frequently cited barriers to tourism investment in Sub-Saharan Africa. When investors cannot establish clear ownership or long-term development rights, even a highly attractive tourism opportunity can become too risky to finance.

Regulation also matters. Investors need to know how long approvals will take, which agencies are involved, what licences are required and whether the rules will remain predictable once a project is underway. Multiple approval processes, inconsistent enforcement and bureaucratic delays can increase project costs and discourage investment. The same applies to the movement of capital. Investors need confidence that legitimate profits can be transferred across borders and that foreign-exchange restrictions will not unexpectedly undermine the commercial viability of their projects.

Infrastructure, land and regulation are closely connected to another critical issue: investor confidence. Tourism is a long-term business. A hotel, lodge, resort, attraction or airport-linked development can require years to recover its initial investment. Investors therefore assess not only current conditions but also whether the policy and economic environment is likely to remain stable over the next decade. Issues such as corruption, security, taxation, foreign-exchange availability and political uncertainty can significantly influence that decision. Where risks are perceived to be high, investors demand higher returns or simply take their capital elsewhere.

This is why Africa needs to shift the conversation from attracting investment to converting investment interest into completed projects. Tourism conferences, investment summits and business forums can create valuable connections, but the real measure of success is what happens afterwards. How many projects secure financing? How many reach construction? How many create jobs and generate new tourism products? A memorandum of understanding can generate publicity, but a completed hotel, expanded aviation route, new attraction or functioning tourism circuit creates tangible economic value.

The continent also needs to become more sophisticated in how it presents investment opportunities. Rather than simply telling investors that Africa has extraordinary tourism potential, governments and tourism authorities need to present projects that are properly structured, researched and financially viable. Investors need access to reliable market data, clear land arrangements, infrastructure plans, regulatory information, projected demand and realistic financial models. Development finance institutions can support this process through guarantees, blended finance and risk-sharing mechanisms, particularly for projects that have strong development potential but face challenges in securing conventional commercial financing.

At the same time, Africa should avoid being treated as a single tourism or investment market. The opportunities and risks vary dramatically between countries and destinations. Investors should be able to distinguish between individual markets based on their infrastructure, governance, connectivity, security, tourism products and economic fundamentals. A strong investment environment in one country should not be undermined by broad perceptions about the continent as a whole.

The opportunity is nevertheless substantial. Tourism already contributes significantly to Africa’s economy and supports millions of livelihoods across the continent. The combination of rising travel demand, a growing African middle class, expanding intra-African travel and increasing international interest presents a strong foundation for future investment. What is required now is the enabling environment to match that demand.

Africa does not need to convince the world that it has tourism assets. The wildlife, beaches, culture, heritage, landscapes and cities already make that case. The next challenge is making it easier to invest in those assets. That means improving infrastructure, securing land rights, simplifying regulation, strengthening governance, addressing security concerns and developing projects that are genuinely bankable. If these barriers are addressed, Africa’s tourism investment story could move from one of immense potential to one of sustained, measurable delivery.

Source : eturbonews.com

Dubai is leaning further into Africa as it seeks to sustain its position as one of the world’s busiest tourism hubs, with rising air capacity, resilient visitor demand and a growing network of connections creating new opportunities for travel between Kenya and the emirate.

The strategy comes as Dubai recovers from a difficult period for regional travel in 2026 while continuing to expand the infrastructure needed to handle long-term growth.

The emirate closed 2025 with a record 19.59 million international overnight visitors, up five per cent from 18.72 million in 2024. Hotel occupancy averaged 80.7 per cent, compared with 78.2 per cent a year earlier, while occupied room nights increased four per cent to 44.85 million.

The performance gave Dubai its third consecutive year of record tourism growth.

But the numbers also reveal the scale of the challenge facing the destination: maintaining momentum in a market where visitor expectations, airline capacity and regional conditions can change quickly.

Dubai started 2026 strongly, recording 2 million international overnight visitors in January, a three per cent increase from the same month a year earlier.

For Kenya, the relationship is particularly important because Dubai is both a destination and a global aviation gateway.

That connectivity has now expanded.

Emirates introduced a third daily Nairobi-Dubai service from March 2026, taking the route to 21 flights a week. The additional frequency was designed to strengthen connectivity between Kenya and Dubai while improving access to the airline’s wider network.

The extra flight also added 280 tonnes of weekly cargo capacity between Kenya and the UAE. Emirates now transports more than 1,100 tonnes of cargo in and out of Kenya each week when its passenger and freighter operations are combined.

For the travel industry, the significance goes beyond the number of seats.

More frequencies give Kenyan travellers greater flexibility while making Dubai easier to package as a short-break destination, stopover or gateway to Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Travel agents can therefore sell Dubai in several ways: as a standalone leisure destination, a shopping and entertainment trip, a family holiday, a business stopover or the first leg of a longer international itinerary.

That flexibility is increasingly important as African travellers become more accustomed to combining several destinations in a single journey.

Dubai’s appeal also rests on the scale of its tourism infrastructure. The emirate ended 2025 with 154,264 hotel rooms across 827 establishments, while average daily rates rose eight per cent to AED579 and revenue per available room increased 11 per cent to AED467.

The figures show that Dubai is not simply attracting more visitors. It is also generating greater value from its accommodation sector.

That creates opportunities for African travel businesses selling higher-value packages rather than simply competing on airfare.

For Kenyan agents, the strongest proposition may be combining Dubai’s attractions with other destinations.

A traveller could fly from Nairobi to Dubai for a few nights before continuing to Europe or Asia. A family could build a holiday around shopping, theme parks and attractions. A corporate traveller could combine meetings with leisure. And a leisure traveller could use Dubai as a short stopover on a longer journey.

Dubai has spent years developing precisely this kind of multi-purpose destination proposition.

Its airport infrastructure is equally central to the strategy.

Dubai International Airport handled a record 95.2 million passengers in 2025, up 3.1 per cent from 2024, and is forecast to handle about 99.5 million passengers in 2026.

That puts DXB within touching distance of the 100-million-passenger mark and reinforces its role as a major connecting hub between Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

The emirate is also investing $35 billion in the expansion of Al Maktoum International Airport, with plans to raise its capacity to 150 million passengers annually over the next decade and eventually to 260 million.

For Africa, the long-term implication is significant.

As Dubai expands its aviation infrastructure, African cities gain access to a larger global connecting network without requiring direct services to every destination.

For a Kenyan traveller, a stronger Dubai hub can mean more choices for reaching markets in Asia, Australia, Europe and the Americas.

For travel agents, it creates more combinations to sell.

The opportunity comes at a time when Dubai is also seeking to deepen its tourism reach beyond traditional source markets. The emirate’s tourism strategy involves more than simply increasing visitor numbers; it is focused on attracting different categories of travellers throughout the year, supported by airlines, hotels, events, attractions and international partnerships.

Africa fits naturally into that strategy.

Kenya is particularly valuable because of its position as an East African aviation and tourism hub. Nairobi connects a large regional market while also serving as an important business centre and gateway for safari tourism.

The stronger the Nairobi-Dubai air bridge becomes, the easier it is for travel agents to build products around both markets.

There is also a wider commercial relationship.

The additional Emirates service is carrying more than passengers. The extra 280 tonnes of weekly cargo capacity strengthens trade links between Kenya and the UAE, particularly for time-sensitive exports such as flowers and fresh produce.

That creates a broader business-travel ecosystem in which leisure tourism, corporate travel, trade and aviation reinforce one another.

Dubai’s recovery in 2026 will ultimately be measured not only by visitor numbers but by how effectively it converts connectivity into sustained demand.

For Kenyan travel agents, however, the direction is already clear.

More flights mean more inventory. More hotel capacity means more packages. A larger global hub means more itineraries.

And with Dubai continuing to expand its tourism and aviation infrastructure, the opportunity for African travel businesses is shifting from simply selling Dubai as a destination to selling Dubai as the gateway through which Africa connects to the world.

Africa’s aviation market is proving more resilient than its modest global share would suggest, with domestic and intra-African travel continuing to provide an important foundation for passenger growth even as airlines contend with high operating costs, fuel-price volatility and limited connectivity.

The latest data from the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) shows just how important domestic travel has become. During the second half of 2025, Africa’s top 100 domestic routes carried 13.4 million passengers, compared with 9.3 million on the continent’s top international routes and 4.1 million on intra-African routes.

The figures point to a market increasingly driven by Africans travelling within their own countries, rather than relying solely on international traffic.

The busiest route was Cape Town-Johannesburg, which carried almost 1.99 million passengers between July and December 2025. Durban-Johannesburg followed with 1.39 million passengers, highlighting the scale of demand on established domestic corridors.

The trend is continuing into 2026. OAG data for July shows total African airline capacity at 26.3 million seats, up 7.5 per cent from the same month last year. Domestic capacity increased by a stronger 11.1 per cent, while international capacity grew 6.6 per cent.

Nigeria recorded the sharpest expansion among the leading country markets, with total capacity up 44.5 per cent year-on-year to 1.22 million seats. Tanzania’s capacity increased 10.5 per cent, while Ethiopia grew 10.3 per cent. Kenya, however, recorded a 1.6 per cent decline in total capacity in July.

Domestic aviation is particularly important because it provides airlines with a market less exposed to some of the shocks affecting international travel.

Africa continues to face high fuel costs, foreign-exchange constraints, aircraft shortages and expensive operating environments. IATA expects African passenger traffic to grow by about 6 per cent in 2026, ahead of the global growth rate, but forecasts African airlines will collectively make only about US$200 million in net profit, equivalent to a margin of roughly 1 per cent.

The combination of strong demand and weak profitability remains one of the industry’s central contradictions.

Airlines have passengers to carry, but converting that demand into sustainable returns remains difficult.

For travel agents, however, the growth of domestic and regional aviation presents an expanding market.

Domestic flying connects the major commercial centres with tourism destinations, creating opportunities to package air travel with accommodation, ground transport and experiences. The growth of regional connectivity also creates scope for multi-country itineraries as travellers increasingly combine business, leisure and family trips across African markets.

This is particularly relevant to East Africa, where aviation and tourism are closely intertwined.

Kenya remains one of the continent’s important aviation markets. ATTA’s 2026 aviation outlook forecasts 10.2 million seats for Kenya during the first 10 months of the year, representing a 22.3 per cent increase from the comparable period in 2025. Eastern Africa’s overall capacity is projected to rise 24.3 per cent, making it the fastest-growing African sub-region in the report.

That expansion gives travel businesses more inventory around which to build products, although the actual benefit will depend on whether additional capacity translates into affordable fares and useful connections.

The biggest structural problem remains connectivity.

Africa is a vast continent, yet many neighbouring countries have no direct air links. Travellers can sometimes spend considerably longer connecting through major hubs than they would spend flying the actual distance between their origin and destination.

This remains a major constraint on intra-African trade and tourism, particularly in Central and parts of West Africa.

The Single African Air Transport Market initiative is intended to address some of these barriers by liberalising air services and improving connectivity between African states. Progress, however, remains uneven.

For airlines, the prize is significant.

Boeing estimates that African passenger traffic could grow by 7.4 per cent annually over the next two decades, with intra-African passenger traffic more than quadrupling during that period. It forecasts demand for 1,025 new commercial aircraft to support the expansion.

The long-term opportunity therefore lies not only in connecting Africa to Europe, Asia or the Middle East, but in connecting Africa to itself.

That shift could change the role of travel agents as well. As African aviation networks become more complex, customers will increasingly need help combining multiple airlines, destinations and travel products. Agents that understand regional schedules, fare structures, accommodation and ground logistics can turn fragmented connectivity into complete itineraries.

The market is not without risks. Rising fuel prices can quickly alter airline economics, while geopolitical disruptions can force carriers to reroute or reduce services. In 2026, African airlines have also faced pressure from higher fuel and supply costs linked to instability around key international air corridors.

Yet passenger demand continues to expand.

That resilience is perhaps the most important signal from the market.

Africa’s aviation story is no longer simply about waiting for international traffic to mature. Millions of passengers are already flying between African cities, and domestic routes are carrying the largest volumes.

For airlines and travel businesses, the opportunity is increasingly inside the continent.

The challenge is to make that movement cheaper, more direct and commercially sustainable.

If Africa can close its connectivity gaps while maintaining the demand now emerging across domestic and regional markets, the continent’s next aviation growth story may be less about flying Africans out of the continent — and more about helping them fly across it.

Source: aerospaceglobalnews.com

Kenya’s travel agency business is entering a new phase as artificial intelligence (AI), New Distribution Capability (NDC) and modern global distribution systems (GDS) begin to change how airline content is searched, sold and serviced.

For travel agents, the transformation is taking place at a time when customers increasingly expect instant comparisons, personalised offers and seamless digital service, while airlines are seeking greater control over how their products reach travellers.

The result is a shift from the traditional model of travel distribution, where agents largely relied on GDS platforms to search fares and issue tickets, towards a more connected environment where GDS, NDC, direct airline content and AI-powered tools work together.

The development is already visible in Kenya.

In April 2025, Kenya Airways became the first airline in sub-Saharan Africa to distribute its NDC-sourced content through the Amadeus Travel Platform. The move gives travel sellers access to richer airline content through the Amadeus environment, including offers generated through the carrier’s NDC channel.

For Kenyan travel agents, this is significant because NDC is no longer simply an industry technology concept being discussed in Europe and North America. It is becoming part of the local distribution ecosystem.

Eligible non-IATA agencies could access Kenya Airways’ NDC content through Amadeus, subject to requirements including a valid IATA Travel Industry Designator Service number and the appropriate Amadeus security arrangements.

From booking tickets to selling travel

The significance of NDC goes beyond another way of accessing airline seats.

Traditional airline distribution has largely centred on fares, schedules and availability. NDC allows airlines to distribute richer offers, including branded fares, ancillary products and other elements of the airline proposition.

This supports the industry’s wider shift towards modern airline retailing, in which airlines increasingly want to sell travel products in a way similar to other digital commerce businesses.

For agents, that could mean greater opportunities to sell seats, baggage, meals, upgrades and other ancillary services alongside the basic air ticket.

It also means agents will have to understand where content comes from and how different distribution channels affect the price, product and servicing options presented to a customer.

The GDS is changing, not disappearing

The rise of NDC does not necessarily mean the end of GDS.

Instead, the major distribution platforms are adapting to aggregate different sources of content.

Travelport’s current APIs, for example, support both NDC and GDS content, while its 2026 strategy increasingly positions the company as technology infrastructure for AI-enabled travel commerce rather than simply a traditional distribution system.

Travelport has also been investing in its TripServices platform, which is designed to bring together different sources of travel content through APIs and make that content more accessible to digital and AI-powered applications.

This points to a future in which the question for an agent may no longer be, “Which GDS do I use?”

Instead, it may become:

“How effectively can my technology access and manage all the content I need?”

AI adds another layer

Artificial intelligence is now pushing the transformation further.

AI can already help travel businesses interpret customer requests, build itineraries, summarise fare rules, automate communication and support repetitive administrative tasks.

The next development is agentic AI — systems designed not merely to provide information but to take actions on behalf of users.

This is particularly important for travel because a booking is more complicated than a simple online purchase.

A system must identify live availability, understand fare rules, process passenger information, complete payment and ticketing, and potentially handle changes, cancellations and disruptions.

That is why the infrastructure behind the AI matters.

Travelport is explicitly positioning its technology as infrastructure for AI-enabled travel, while Amadeus has been testing AI applications that can interact with travel booking and servicing workflows.

The implication is important for travel agents.

AI may change how travel is searched and sold, but distribution infrastructure determines what the technology can actually book and service.

The threat is also an opportunity

For travel agents, the immediate concern is whether AI will make their role redundant.

But the more likely outcome may be a change in the type of work agents perform.

Technology can increasingly handle repetitive searches and administrative processes. Human agents can therefore spend more time on activities that require judgement — designing complex itineraries, advising customers, managing disruptions, handling corporate travel and building relationships.

The competitive advantage could consequently shift from knowing how to operate a booking system to knowing how to use several technology systems intelligently.

An agent who can compare GDS and NDC content, identify the best product for a customer, sell ancillary services and use AI to reduce administrative work could be more productive than one relying exclusively on traditional workflows.

This will also make training increasingly important.

Travel agencies will need staff who understand NDC, APIs, digital distribution and AI tools, alongside the conventional skills of fares, ticketing, customer service and destination knowledge.

A new role for the travel agent

The travel agent of the future may therefore be less of a ticketing intermediary and more of a travel-commerce professional.

AI could conduct the initial search. Distribution platforms could aggregate content. Automation could handle routine processes.

But the agent could remain responsible for interpreting the options, advising the traveller and resolving problems when things do not go according to plan.

That human role becomes particularly valuable when a journey is complicated.

A missed connection, a family travelling across several destinations, a corporate traveller facing a last-minute change or a group booking involving multiple passengers can require judgement that goes beyond simply finding the cheapest available fare.

For Kenya’s travel agencies, the opportunity is to prepare for this transition rather than resist it.

The technology landscape is moving towards an environment where GDS, NDC, APIs and AI complement one another.

The winners may not necessarily be the agencies with the most technology.

They could be the agencies that understand how to use technology to deliver better advice, faster service and more value to the customer.

The future of the travel agent, therefore, may not be about competing against AI.

It may be about becoming the human expert who knows how to make AI and modern travel distribution work for the customer.

Airline surcharges are becoming an increasingly expensive blind spot for corporate travel buyers, with rising fuel costs pushing carriers to add fees that can escape negotiated corporate discounts and quietly erode the savings companies expect from their travel contracts.

The pressure has intensified since late February 2026, when higher jet-fuel prices triggered increases in airfares, baggage charges and carrier-imposed surcharges. Rather than increasing published base fares, some airlines have used YQ and YR charges to adjust the final price of tickets.

For corporate travel managers, the problem is straightforward: a company may negotiate a 20, 30 or 40 per cent discount with an airline, but that discount may not apply to the carrier-imposed portion of the ticket.

The result is a growing gap between the advertised contractual discount and the actual saving achieved on the total ticket cost.

These charges are not government taxes. YQ and YR are airline-controlled fees that can cover fuel-related costs as well as other operating and distribution expenses. They are particularly common on international journeys and tend to become more significant in premium cabins.

Their flexibility is part of their attraction to airlines. Adjusting a surcharge allows a carrier to change pricing across a large number of fares without having to rewrite individual fare tariffs.

But that flexibility is becoming a headache for travel managers trying to forecast expenditure.

An analysis by American Express Global Business Travel found that, if oil remained around $152 a barrel and demand held steady, business-class fares from North America to Europe could rise by between 6 and 16 per cent, while Europe-North America fares could increase by about 10 per cent. Transpacific business-class fares were projected to rise by about 7 per cent.

The impact is particularly visible on premium international travel.

One business-class itinerary between Los Angeles and London recorded a combined YQ/YR charge of $2,155 in late February. By mid-April, the surcharge had increased to $2,805, adding $650 to the ticket’s cost without a corresponding increase in the negotiated discount. Comparable fares on other carriers showed similarly high surcharge levels.

On another set of sample routes, surcharges accounted for 28 per cent of the total ticket price between Houston and Angola and 41 per cent on a Houston-Bangalore itinerary. Across business-class travel, YQ and YR charges were estimated to represent between 21 and 41 per cent of ticket costs on some routes — a portion that corporate discounts may not touch.

The issue is not limited to the size of the charges. Their volatility is making travel budgets harder to manage.

Fuel-related pricing adjustments are occurring faster and more frequently, creating difficulties for companies that negotiate annual travel contracts and establish fixed budgets. When surcharges rise independently of the base fare, travel managers can find that the economics of an airline contract change even though the contractual discount itself remains unchanged.

For travel agencies and travel management companies, the development creates another layer of complexity.

Corporate clients increasingly expect agencies to demonstrate savings against the full ticket price rather than simply the published fare. As carrier-imposed charges become a larger component of that price, agents have to scrutinise fare construction more closely and explain why a ticket carrying a substantial negotiated discount can still cost significantly more.

It also creates an opportunity for travel advisers that can provide better cost visibility.

Companies can respond by reviewing total ticket costs rather than relying on headline discounts, monitoring surcharge movements on frequently travelled routes and using fare-reshopping technology to identify cheaper alternatives when prices change.

Large corporate programmes may also have room to negotiate additional value through volume-based arrangements, back-end incentives or rebates, particularly on routes where a company has significant travel share.

The challenge for airlines is equally clear.

Surcharges provide a fast mechanism for responding to fuel costs, but when they become a substantial part of the final fare, transparency becomes increasingly important. Corporate buyers want to know not only why prices are rising, but whether the charges will fall when the underlying cost pressure eases.

Historically, surcharges have tended to decline after fuel costs come down, but not necessarily at the same speed at which they rise. That lag creates another source of frustration for buyers and makes long-term budgeting more difficult.

For Kenya’s travel industry, where international business travel remains heavily dependent on airline pricing and corporate contracts, the issue has wider implications. Travel agents advising corporate clients will increasingly need to look beyond fare discounts and examine the full cost of travel.

The era when a 30 per cent airline discount automatically meant a 30 per cent saving may be disappearing.

As surcharges take a larger slice of the ticket, the real measure of a corporate travel deal is no longer the discount on the fare — it is what remains on the final bill.

Source : businesstravelnews.com

Kenya’s travel agents are looking at a rare commercial opportunity as the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) turns East Africa into a single sporting and tourism market, with the experience of Côte d’Ivoire showing how much spending can spill beyond the stadiums.

The tournament, which Kenya will co-host with Tanzania and Uganda from June 19 to July 17, 2027, will bring 24 national teams and thousands of travelling supporters into the region. CAF president Patrice Motsepe said last month that, despite challenges, he expected the East African tournament to be an “enormous success”.

For travel agencies, the opportunity is not simply to sell an air ticket to Nairobi. It is to package the entire journey, flights, hotels, airport transfers, match-day transport, insurance, excursions and cross-border travel, while using football to sell Kenya as a wider holiday destination.

Côte d’Ivoire provides the clearest African benchmark.

AFCON 2023 generated an estimated US$1.523 billion in local economic impact, according to CAF, including US$522.2 million in secondary and incremental spending. More than 1.2 million supporters attended the 52 matches, with 17 per cent of those surveyed coming from outside Côte d’Ivoire.

The tournament also produced US$86.5 million in retail and tourism revenue, while its global television audience reached about 1.4 billion and its digital impact was estimated at 2.2 billion views.

Those numbers matter for East Africa because the three-host model could spread visitor spending across a much wider geography.

In Côte d’Ivoire, the tourism effect was visible beyond the headline economic figures. The government had prepared more than 100,000 hotel beds ahead of the tournament while expecting more than two million visitors. In San Pedro, where Morocco, DR Congo, Zambia and Tanzania were based, the number of hotels increased from 191 in 2022 to 205 in 2023, while rooms rose from 3,332 to 3,654. Some hotels reported occupancy rates of 75 to 80 per cent during the tournament period.

At an Abidjan hotel, occupancy rose to around 80 per cent from 70 per cent the previous year, while room prices increased by about 30 per cent during key periods, according to reporting by RFI.

For Kenyan travel agents, the lesson is straightforward: football creates the initial demand, but accommodation, transport, leisure and hospitality capture much of the wider spend.

That opens the door to products that combine a match with a safari, beach holiday or city break. A supporter travelling from Nigeria, Ghana or Senegal could fly into Nairobi for a match, spend several days on safari and then continue to Uganda or Tanzania for another fixture. A corporate group could combine match hospitality with meetings, while supporter clubs could purchase flights, hotels and ground transport as a single package.

The three-country format makes regional itineraries particularly attractive. Instead of treating Nairobi, Kampala and Dar es Salaam as separate destinations, agents can sell them as stops on one AFCON journey.

That plays directly into the role of the professional travel agent.

Online platforms can sell an airfare or hotel room, but a multi-country football itinerary involves coordination. Flights have to connect with match dates; accommodation has to be available around peak fixtures; groups need transfers; and travellers may require changes when fixtures or plans shift.

The agent therefore becomes less of a ticket issuer and more of a trip architect.

There is also an opportunity to capture visitors who have little interest in spending their entire trip inside a stadium.

Côte d’Ivoire’s experience suggests that destination perception can be one of the tournament’s most valuable legacies. CAF found that 97 per cent of people surveyed believed AFCON 2023 helped promote Côte d’Ivoire as a tourism destination, while 90 per cent of international supporters said they would return to the country in future.

That is particularly relevant to Kenya, whose travel industry can use AFCON as a gateway to destinations that have nothing to do with football.

A fan may arrive for a match and leave having experienced the Maasai Mara. Another may discover the coast. A third may extend a business trip into a leisure holiday.

The commercial prize is therefore not necessarily the visitor’s match ticket. It is the additional nights, journeys and experiences attached to that ticket.

The timing also favours agents who begin planning early. AFCON qualification matches begin in September 2026 and run through March 2027, while the finals are scheduled for June and July. Teams that qualify will progressively reveal where supporter demand is likely to originate, allowing agencies to develop country-specific packages and group products.

For Kenya’s travel trade, that means supplier negotiations, hotel allocations, airline partnerships and regional ground-handling arrangements cannot be left until the tournament is underway.

The Côte d’Ivoire numbers show what is possible when football becomes a tourism engine. The 2023 tournament delivered US$1.5 billion in local economic impact, more than US$500 million in secondary spending and 1.2 million stadium spectators.

East Africa now has three destinations, an established tourism industry and a tournament that will command continental attention.

The opportunity for Kenyan travel agents is to ensure that when the football brings visitors through the airport, the money does not stop at the stadium gate.

It should continue into the hotel, the safari vehicle, the restaurant, the airline, the beach resort and, ultimately, the wider tourism economy.

Kenya’s travel agency business is facing a new reality in 2026 as continued enforcement of Tourism Regulatory Authority (TRA) requirements raises the bar for who can operate in the formal travel trade.

The timing is significant. Kenya closed 2025 with one of its strongest tourism performances on record, generating approximately KSh500 billion in tourism earnings and receiving an estimated 7.9 million tourists, according to the 2025 Tourism Sector Performance Report released by the government in April 2026.

Of these, 2.7 million were international visitors while 5.2 million were domestic travellers. International arrivals increased from approximately 2.47 million in 2024 to 2.7 million in 2025, representing about 9 per cent growth, more than twice the estimated global growth rate of 4 per cent.

The numbers underline why the question of who is allowed to sell travel services is becoming increasingly important.

As more money flows through the tourism value chain, the regulatory spotlight is moving beyond hotels, tour operators and attractions to the businesses that sit between travellers and suppliers, including travel agencies.

Compliance is no longer just paperwork

The continued application of the TRA framework means travel agencies must increasingly demonstrate that they are legitimate, licensed and professionally connected.

Under Kenya’s tourism regulations, tourism enterprises seeking licences or renewals are required, where applicable, to provide proof of membership in a registered tourism sector association.

The regulations also place responsibilities on recognised tourism associations to maintain membership registers, promote compliance with industry standards and report breaches and unethical conduct to TRA.

The result is a layered system of oversight.

Government remains the regulator, but professional associations increasingly play a role in the industry’s compliance infrastructure.

For travel agents, that changes the meaning of membership.

It is no longer simply about attending industry events, networking with airlines or accessing training. Professional affiliation can increasingly become part of the evidence that an agency belongs within the formal travel economy.

A KSh500 billion industry has more to protect

The regulatory pressure comes as Kenya’s tourism industry becomes a substantially larger economic proposition.

The KSh500 billion generated by tourism in 2025 represents a rise from about KSh452.2 billion in 2024, while the country attracted 7.9 million domestic and international travellers during the year.

International tourism alone is becoming increasingly valuable. The rise to 2.7 million international visitors in 2025 puts Kenya closer to its longer-term target of attracting five million international visitors annually.

More visitors mean more airline tickets, hotel reservations, tours, transfers, visa-related services, insurance products and other transactions moving through the travel ecosystem.

They also mean more opportunities for fraudulent operators.

For a traveller paying hundreds of thousands of shillings for an international holiday, a fake ticket or non-existent hotel booking is not merely an inconvenience. It can mean lost money, missed flights, cancelled holidays and, in some cases, travellers stranded far from home.

That makes credibility a commercial issue rather than simply a regulatory one.

The digital agency has changed the game

The traditional image of a travel agent sitting behind an office desk has also changed. Today, an agency can operate almost entirely through a website, Instagram page, Facebook account or WhatsApp Business number. That has made travel more accessible, but it has also made it easier for unqualified operators to present themselves as legitimate businesses.

A professional-looking social media page does not necessarily mean the business behind it is licensed. That is where the continuing TRA requirements become important.

The regulations require licensed tourism enterprises advertising online or through digital booking platforms to display relevant licence identification details. They also restrict digital platforms from listing unlicensed tourism enterprises.

For consumers, that creates a practical verification tool.

The question before sending money to a travel agent increasingly becomes: Is this business licensed, and can its professional credentials be independently verified?

KATA gains greater relevance

For legitimate travel agencies, the regulatory environment is also changing the value of professional associations.

The Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) has built its membership structure around professional and regulatory requirements. The membership, for example, requires documentation including a business registration Licence, tax compliance documentation and IATA accreditation where applicable, alongside audited accounts.

That creates an additional layer of credibility for agencies operating within the formal system.

KATA’s role also extends beyond membership.

The association has increasingly positioned itself around advocacy, training, partnerships, professional development and consumer confidence — areas that become more important as travel businesses navigate changing airline distribution models, digital platforms, cybersecurity risks and increasingly demanding customers.

Its membership has grown significantly in recent years, reflecting the industry’s growing appetite for collective representation and professional support.

The association’s influence has also moved closer to the regulatory centre through the appointment of KATA CEO Nicanor Sabula to the TRA Board, giving the travel agency sector representation within the institution responsible for tourism regulation.

The cost of being legitimate

There is, however, another side to the regulatory equation. Compliance costs money. A legitimate travel agency must contend with licensing, professional membership, trained personnel, technology, accounting systems, tax obligations and other operating costs. An informal operator may avoid some of those expenses and therefore offer apparently cheaper deals.

For years, this has created an uneven playing field. The continued enforcement of TRA requirements could begin to change that calculation. If consumers increasingly verify licences and professional affiliations before making payments, the cost of compliance becomes less of a disadvantage and more of a competitive asset. An agency can point to its credentials as part of the product it sells. Ultimately, trust becomes something an agent can commercialise.

Rogue operators face a different market

For businesses operating outside the formal system, the environment is becoming considerably less comfortable. The combination of regulatory enforcement, professional association oversight and greater consumer awareness makes it harder to rely solely on social media visibility and word-of-mouth referrals.

The challenge, however, will be enforcement. Regulation only changes the market if non-compliance has consequences. If unlicensed operators can continue advertising, collecting customer money and operating openly, legitimate agencies may still find themselves competing against businesses that do not carry the same regulatory costs. But if licensing checks, digital verification and enforcement become routine, the market begins to reward compliance. That could gradually push the travel industry towards a more professional operating model.

Consumers are becoming part of the enforcement chain

The regulatory shift also puts some responsibility on travellers. A customer who checks an agency’s licence and professional credentials before paying is effectively helping to enforce the standards. Travel agents and industry associations are increasingly encouraging customers to verify businesses before making substantial payments, particularly when deals appear unusually cheap or when transactions are conducted through personal rather than established business channels. For travellers, the calculation is simple. A few minutes spent checking an agency may prevent weeks or months of trying to recover money from a fraudulent operator.

The stakes are rising with the industry

Kenya’s tourism sector is no longer operating at its post-pandemic recovery levels. It is growing. That expansion increases the importance of the businesses handling the transactions behind the headline numbers. Travel agencies may be smaller than airlines or hotel groups, but they sit at a critical point in the customer journey. They influence where travellers spend, which airlines they use, which hotels they book and how much money moves through the tourism economy. That is why the continuing TRA compliance regime matters.

It is not simply about forcing agents to obtain another certificate. It is about determining who can credibly participate in a tourism economy that is becoming larger, more digital and more valuable.

For legitimate travel agents, 2026 could therefore mark a turning point. The competitive advantage may no longer belong to the operator promising the cheapest deal on WhatsApp. It may increasingly belong to the agency that can prove, before the customer pays, that it is licensed, professionally affiliated and accountable.

For about nine hours on Thursday, the usual boundaries in Kenya’s travel industry disappeared.

Travel agents sat alongside airlines, fintech companies, insurers, auditors, lawyers, hotels, destination management companies and technology providers, all pitching solutions to an industry whose biggest challenge is no longer simply getting more people to travel, but capturing a bigger share of the value created when they do.

More than 120 industry players gathered at the Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Nairobi for the second edition of the Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) Travel Business & Innovation Forum, a meeting that put technology, business models and the economics of the travel trade under unusual scrutiny.

The forum, held on August 13 under the theme “Connecting Travel, Business & Innovation,” brought together the travel trade and companies offering everything from digital payments and verification systems to insurance, aviation, hospitality and healthcare facilitation. The programme ran from 8 am to 5 pm and combined keynote sessions with business showcases and networking.

The timing was significant.

Kenya’s tourism industry generated about KSh500 billion in earnings in 2025, according to sector data, while the country recorded about 7.9 million tourist arrivals, comprising 2.7 million international visitors and 5.2 million domestic travellers. International arrivals rose by roughly nine percent from 2024.

For travel agents, another number illustrates the scale of the business. Airline ticket transactions processed through the IATA Billing and Settlement Plan in Kenya exceeded KSh74 billion annually, according to industry data.

Yet the question confronting the industry is whether travel businesses are capturing enough of that expanding economic activity.

That was the uncomfortable question at the centre of Benard Odote’s keynote.

From selling tickets to owning the journey

Odote, Group CEO and Managing Director of The ODOTE Group, told delegates that the travel industry had grown substantially but had not necessarily captured a proportionate share of the value it creates.

“Kenya’s travel industry has never been larger. It has never captured less of what it creates,” he said.

He argued that the traditional travel transaction, an agent selling an airline ticket and perhaps adding a hotel or tour, captures only a fraction of the traveller’s spending.

“Travel is not a flight. It is a thousand decisions.”

The distinction matters in an industry where the customer may use one company to book a flight, another for accommodation, another for airport transfers, a separate platform for activities and another provider for insurance or payments.

Odote’s proposed answer was the Travel Twin, a technology-enabled companion designed to support travellers before, during and after their trip.

“The platform does not replace you. It arms you,” he told agents, arguing that technology should connect the fragmented travel ecosystem rather than eliminate the intermediary.

That ecosystem already includes airlines, hotels, transport companies, tour operators, insurers, retailers and financial providers. The commercial opportunity, he argued, lies in connecting those services around the traveller.

‘Thermometer or thermostat?’

Dr Tonny Omwansa, chief executive of the Kenya National Innovation Agency, took the technology discussion a step further.

He began his keynote with an apparently simple exercise: delegates were asked to close their eyes and point north.

When they opened them, fingers were pointing in different directions.

The laughter made the point.

Perception can differ. Reality does not.

Omwansa then asked delegates whether they wanted to be a “thermometer or a thermostat”, whether they would simply measure what was happening around them or actively change the environment.

“May tomorrow be better because we became more thermostats than thermometers,” he said.

For a travel industry facing artificial intelligence, changing customer behaviour and increasingly digital distribution, the message was direct: adaptation alone may not be enough.

The industry has to participate in shaping the change.

The solutions were already in the room

The strongest feature of the forum was that the discussion about innovation did not end with keynote speeches.

It moved into a marketplace.

The programme featured business showcases from more than 20 organisations, allowing travel agents to examine solutions aimed at specific problems affecting their businesses.

Among the most practical innovations were payment technologies.

Flocash presented payment infrastructure designed to allow businesses to accept multiple local payment methods through a single integration, potentially reducing transaction friction for travel companies serving customers across markets.

FusionFi, meanwhile, showcased a multi-currency digital wallet combining mobile money, banking, stablecoins, payments and digital services in one platform.

And TouristTap, developed by Craft Silicon, demonstrated a cashless proposition aimed specifically at travellers. Its NFC-enabled technology allows tourists to use Visa or Mastercard through their phones to make payments as they would locally.

The significance for travel agents is straightforward: payments are no longer simply an administrative function at the end of a booking. They are becoming part of the customer experience and, potentially, a source of additional value.

Trust becomes a technology issue

Another cluster of solutions focused on a less glamorous but increasingly important part of the travel business: risk.

Verify Group showcased technology-driven verification, compliance and risk-management tools aimed at helping companies conduct due diligence and reduce fraud and operational exposure.

Geminia Insurance brought the risk conversation into the travel transaction, with insurance solutions covering travel, medical, motor and general business risks.

Audit, tax and governance providers Baker Tilly Kenya and KKCO East Africa also featured, reflecting a recognition that digital transformation does not remove the need for stronger financial controls, compliance and governance.
For an industry handling large volumes of customer money and supplier payments, the distinction between innovation and risk management is becoming increasingly blurred.

Technology meets the traditional travel business

The forum also demonstrated that innovation in travel is not confined to software.

Airline Jambojet presented opportunities around regional connectivity and its travel trade partner ecosystem, while Flightlink showcased scheduled regional and safari connectivity across East Africa.

On the accommodation side, Marasa Africa brought safari lodges and camps into the conversation, with products aimed at leisure, corporate and MICE travel. Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Nairobi, the host venue, highlighted its 175 suites and facilities for business, leisure and extended-stay travellers.

Destination management companies also used the forum to widen the product base available to agents.

Uganda-based Allanblackia Safaris showcased cross-border safari and cultural products, while Dubai-based Colors Holidays presented a B2B destination management proposition covering holiday packages, hotels, airport transfers, excursions, MICE, group travel, visa assistance and ground handling.
For Kenyan agents, the message was that growth does not necessarily have to come from selling more of the same products. It can also come from accessing new destinations, suppliers and specialised services.

Medical travel enters the travel-agent conversation

Perhaps one of the more unconventional propositions at the forum came from My 1Health, a healthcare facilitation platform that is effectively turning medical travel into a structured travel product.

The company says it connects patients with more than 350 JCI-accredited and leading hospitals across more than 20 countries and six continents and has coordinated more than 53,000 patients from 151 nationalities.

Its model covers hospital matching, medical records, logistics, visa invitation letters and follow-up care.

That is a significant departure from the conventional image of a travel agent.

Instead of selling only a seat, room or safari, the agent can potentially sit at the centre of a much larger journey involving healthcare, accommodation, transportation and international coordination.

Planning Beyond the Founder

MAK & Partners Advocates brought a longer-term perspective to the forum, highlighting legal, tax and commercial solutions alongside the often-overlooked need for succession planning. For travel agencies built around their founders, the firm stressed the importance of preparing for leadership transitions and protecting business continuity as companies grow.

A marketplace for solutions

KATA chairman Dr Joseph Kithitu described the forum as a market for solutions. A place where problems confronting travel businesses could meet companies with the tools to address them.

KATA chief executive Nicanor Sabula similarly stressed the need for agents to remain connected to “what is cutting edge”, while creating opportunities for business between travel agents and industry partners.

The programme was deliberately structured around this idea. After the keynote, delegates moved through three business showcase sessions, with companies given short presentations before networking and showcase visits. The agenda included fintech, insurance, audit, legal services, airlines, hospitality, DMCs, healthcare and digital business solutions.

It made for an unusual picture of Kenya’s travel economy: the people selling the journey were in the same room as the people building the systems through which that journey is paid for, insured, verified, booked, transported, accommodated and increasingly personalised.

That may ultimately prove to be the more important takeaway from the forum.

Kenya’s tourism sector has already crossed the KSh500 billion annual earnings mark, while travel agents process tens of billions of shillings in airline transactions.

The next battle is not simply over whether the market will grow.

It is over who captures the value when it does.

And if Omwansa’s thermostat analogy is anything to go by, the travel industry is being asked to stop merely reading the temperature, and start changing it.

Dubai is not merely attracting tourists; it is setting new benchmarks for global tourism.

The emirate welcomed a record 19.59 million international overnight visitors in 2025, a five percent increase from the 18.72 million visitors recorded in 2024. The achievement marked Dubai’s third consecutive year of record-breaking tourism growth, reinforcing its position among the world’s most successful travel destinations.

The numbers become even more impressive when viewed against a backdrop of intense global competition. While many destinations are still working to regain pre-pandemic momentum, Dubai has continued to expand its tourism footprint through strategic investments in infrastructure, aviation, hospitality, events, and destination marketing.

Dubai’s appeal lies in its ability to offer something for virtually every traveller. Families flock to its beaches, theme parks, and entertainment attractions. Luxury travellers are drawn to its world-renowned hotels and exclusive experiences. Business travellers benefit from its status as one of the world’s leading commercial and conference hubs, while adventure seekers can move seamlessly from desert safaris to skydiving and water sports within a single itinerary.

The city’s tourism growth is closely linked to its unrivalled connectivity. Dubai International Airport handled a record 95.2 million passengers in 2025, making it the busiest year in the airport’s history and maintaining its status as the world’s leading international aviation hub. The airport connects travellers to hundreds of destinations across six continents, making Dubai one of the most accessible cities on the planet.

Hotels have also benefited from the tourism surge. During the first half of 2025, Dubai welcomed 9.88 million international visitors, a six percent increase year-on-year. Hotel occupancy reached 80.6 percent, a figure many destinations can only aspire to achieve, while room nights sold exceeded 22 million.

What makes Dubai particularly attractive is its ability to continuously reinvent itself. Attractions such as futuristic museums, immersive entertainment districts, waterfront developments, luxury resorts, and year-round global events ensure repeat visitors always have something new to experience.

The city’s calendar remains packed with international exhibitions, sporting events, shopping festivals, culinary showcases, and cultural experiences. This strategy has helped Dubai evolve from a seasonal destination into a year-round tourism powerhouse.

For African travellers, Dubai’s proximity, extensive air connectivity, streamlined visa processes, and diverse tourism offering continue to make it one of the most accessible international destinations. Whether travelling for leisure, shopping, business, family holidays, or stopovers, visitors can tailor experiences to virtually any budget and interest.

As destinations worldwide compete for travellers’ attention, Dubai continues to stand apart through a combination of ambition, innovation, and execution. The city is no longer simply a stopover between continents. It has become a destination in its own right—one that continues to attract millions of visitors and redefine what modern tourism can achieve.

With nearly 20 million international visitors in a single year and aviation traffic approaching the 100 million passenger mark, Dubai’s tourism story is no longer about growth alone. It is about sustaining global leadership in one of the world’s most competitive industries.