Virus related factors triggered a 91% drop in Kenya’s International visitor arrivals in the month of August with the downward spiral expected to get worse before it can get better.
Monthly updates from the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife indicate that International arrivals fell by 91.2 % in August 2020 compared to a similar period last year.
Kenya received 14,049 international arrivals in August, the first month after resumption of international and domestic flights compared to 159,804 international arrivals in a similar period last year.
Kenya recorded 2,048,334 international visitor arrivals in 2019 a marginal increase from 2,025,206 in 2018.
Kenya’s tourism sector is a key forex earner, bringing in KSh163.56 billion and was projected to grow by 1% this year.
Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala has already warned that things could get worse before they can improve.
“The second half of this year is almost as good as zero. So we have a major problem,” Najib Balala told reporters recently after launching the Ministry’s monthly updates on impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector.
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https://uonresearch.org/blog/impact-of-covid-19-on-travel-and-tourism-industry-in-kenya/