Hotel industry has been hit by government’s reduced expenditure on conferences for the January-April period’s forward bookings.
- •Central Bank of Kenya 2024 Market Perception Survey requested hotel respondents for forward bookings received so far for the period January to April 2024.
- •The results showed slightly lower average forward bookings for January and February 2024 compared with 2023, but higher averages for March and April 2024.
- •The survey looked into the forward bookings between January-April for hotels in Mombasa, Nairobi and the rest of the country, compared to the same period last year.
“Respondents indicated that forward bookings were supported by increased international travel. local forward bookings were low following Government’s reduced expenditure on conferences. However, respondents expected bookings to increase around the easter holiday season,” according to the study.
Mombasa hotels forward bookings between January-February 2024 are lower than what was reported last year, the bookings are the same as last year at 56 per cent and 42 per cent for March and April.
The reading is much different for Nairobi which has all the months upto April experiencing lower forward bookings. Other hotspot areas in the sector will have slightly higher activities in March and April this year.
- •Kenya’s tourism sector experienced a remarkable upswing in international arrivals leading to a positive effect on the country’s tourism receipts, during the first half of the year to June, 2023.
- •Within the period, the country earned Sh116.2 billion from the tourism sector.
- •This represented a 32 percent jump from Sh152.6 billion during a similar period last year, according to the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB).
Arrivals from entry points such as the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and Moi International Airport in Mombasa, among others, went up from 642,861 to 847,810 in the review period.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) undertakes a Market Perceptions Survey, prior to every Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting to obtain perceptions of banks and non-bank private sector firms on selected economic indicators including inflation, economic growth, demand for credit, growth in credit to private sector and exchange rate.
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