The number of tourists jetting into the country in the first half of 2019 has dropped by one percent, according to the latest data from the Tourism Research Institute (TRI) released this week.
The report indicates that the visitors entering the country dropped from 927, 797 in the first quarter of 2018 to 921,090 in the same period this year.
While releasing the report, Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala stated that despite the drop, in the first half, the number of international tourists is expected to rise by 10 percent as compared to last year.
He added that his ministry is working on a strategy to attract Russian and Indian markets and increase the number of arrivals from the US and China in a bid to boost the number of arrivals into the country.
“The American market is still growing, that is one of our key markets, we are also putting emphasis in the Chinese market where we have a strategy for the market,’’ he further said.
The rise in 9 percent of the number of American tourists into the country is indicative that the direct flights from Nairobi to New York boosted the number of travellers jetting in.
The TRI statistics further revealed that 606, 298 arrivals were recorded from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, a drop from 633, 731 recorded in the same period last year.
The largest percentage of the travellers being 68 percent came in on holiday followed by people jetting in for business at 18 percent. The rest of the travellers visited the country to visit friends and relatives and for medical reasons.
TRI acting CEO David Gitonga stated that projections indicate that the number of tourists may exceed 2.1 million as 900, 000 tourists have already visited the country ahead of the high season.
In 2018, the number of international tourists visiting the country was recorded at two million which earned the country Ksh 157 billion in revenue, the highest recorded in the country.
