West African visitors spend an average KSh10,410 a day on accommodation in Kenya, exceeding the daily lodging expenditure recorded among visitors from the UK, Switzerland and the US, according to a Kenya National Bureau of Statistics survey.
The findings point to an opportunity for Kenya’s tourism industry to pay closer attention to African source markets as hotels, travel agents and tour operators seek to increase revenue from international visitors.
Data show that visitors from West Africa recorded the highest average daily accommodation expenditure among the regional groupings highlighted in the survey. North African visitors followed at KSh8,627, while visitors grouped under East and Central Africa spent KSh8,492 a day.
The West African average was about 22 per cent higher than the North African figure and 23 per cent above the East and Central African average.
The regional comparison also placed West African visitors ahead of several established Western markets. Visitors from Switzerland spent an average KSh7,779 per day on accommodation, compared with KSh7,511 for the UK and KSh7,177 for the US.
West Africa’s average was therefore approximately 34 per cent higher than the UK figure and 45 per cent above the US figure.
The survey identified visitors from countries including Nigeria and Cameroon among those contributing to the West African spending pattern. However, the regional average should not be interpreted as the spending level of every nationality or individual visitor within the group.
Accommodation demand grows as hotel stays increase
The spending figures come against a backdrop of rising demand for accommodation. Kenya recorded 11.56 million hotel-bed nights in 2025, up from 10.26 million in 2024, an increase of 12.7 per cent.
Hotel-bed nights have more than doubled since 2021, when they stood at 5.52 million. The total rose to 7.01 million in 2022 and 8.63 million in 2023 before reaching 11.56 million in 2025.
The growth suggests that accommodation demand has continued to recover and expand beyond the immediate post-pandemic period. For the sector, the next question is how effectively that demand translates into higher yields for accommodation providers and other tourism businesses.
The accommodation and food service industry contributed 1.7 per cent of Kenya’s gross domestic product in 2025, compared with 1.6 per cent in 2024 and 1.3 per cent in 2023, according to the figures cited by Business Daily.
The rise in hotel-bed nights and the industry’s GDP contribution provide broader context for the accommodation-spending data, although neither measure establishes how much of the growth came from West African visitors.
Travel purpose shapes spending
The KNBS survey also shows that accommodation expenditure varies according to the purpose of travel, creating another distinction for tourism businesses assessing which customers to target.
Visitors in transit recorded average daily accommodation spending of KSh8,233, narrowly ahead of those travelling for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE), at KSh8,198.
Business and professional visitors spent an average KSh6,565 per day, while holidaymakers recorded KSh5,630.
The figures suggest that demand associated with business travel, conferences and transit can generate accommodation expenditure comparable to, or higher than, that of some leisure segments. They also show why source-market data alone is insufficient: the reason for travelling can materially affect spending.
For Kenyan hotels and travel businesses, combining information about visitors’ country of residence with their travel purpose could help identify opportunities in conference travel, corporate accommodation, stopovers and leisure extensions.
The accommodation figures should not, however, be confused with total visitor expenditure. In a separate report based on KNBS data, Business Daily put average daily expenditure across all categories of inbound tourist spending at KSh19,306. That broader measure includes expenditure beyond accommodation, such as transport, food, shopping, entertainment and tours.
Hotels remain the leading accommodation choice
Hotels accounted for 52.1 per cent of visitors in the survey’s accommodation-facility breakdown, making them the dominant category.
Staying with friends or relatives accounted for 25.6 per cent, while vacation rentals, including Airbnb properties, represented 9.6 per cent. Lodges accounted for 9.4 per cent, apartments 5.4 per cent and campsites 2.9 per cent.
The distribution shows that Kenya’s accommodation market extends beyond conventional hotels, although hotels remain the largest single category.
For travel agents and tour operators, this creates scope to match accommodation options to trip purpose, length of stay and customer preferences. Business travellers and conference delegates may require centrally located hotels, while leisure visitors may favour resorts, lodges or combinations of properties across several destinations.
The figures do not establish which accommodation types West African visitors prefer. That would require a more detailed breakdown by nationality, travel purpose and facility type.
African markets warrant closer attention
The West African spending figures challenge the assumption that higher-value accommodation demand necessarily comes from Europe or North America. They indicate that African visitors can represent a commercially important market, even where their home countries have lower average incomes than some traditional Western source markets.
Business Daily noted that Nigeria and Cameroon have substantially lower GDP per capita than the US and Switzerland, yet the West African regional group recorded higher average daily accommodation expenditure than visitors from those two countries. National income levels alone, therefore, do not determine what visitors spend while travelling abroad.
For Kenyan travel businesses, the implication is to assess African markets using actual visitor expenditure, arrival volumes, travel patterns and length of stay rather than relying on assumptions about purchasing power.
Nigeria, Ghana and neighbouring countries may offer opportunities across Nairobi accommodation, corporate travel, MICE, shopping, coastal holidays and safari packages. But the spending data alone does not prove that each market is growing or that every visitor is seeking a premium product. Commercial decisions would need to be supported by country-level arrival statistics, air connectivity, booking data and customer research.
The distinction between high daily expenditure and total market value is also important. A market with high spending per visitor may still generate less aggregate revenue if visitor numbers are relatively small or stays are short. Conversely, a larger market with lower daily expenditure may contribute more in total.
For Kenya’s tourism industry, the figures provide a useful starting point for examining where accommodation revenue is being generated. The opportunity is to connect that spending intelligence with reliable source-market data and develop products that respond to identifiable demand.
Source: Business Daily