The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Pakistan, and Spain have recorded the highest growth of flight bookings from Kenyan travellers in the last twelve months according to an analysis by travel commerce platform Travelport.
From 1 August 2017 to 31 July 2018, the bookings made in Kenya to the UAE surged by 675, with the largest volume being registered in June 2018. In addition, bookings from Kenya to Pakistan increased by 631 and bookings to Spain spiked by 564. Pakistan and Spain bookings recorded the highest bookings in September and July respectively.
Travelport Regional Managing Director for Africa Guido Verweij said in a statement:
“The data suggests the volume of overall bookings made in Kenya to international destinations has largely remained steady over the last twelve months. What is interesting, however, is that the countries that have experienced growth, have not been those with large booking volumes like India (1st), Uganda (3rd) and China (7th). Instead, it has come from trips to countries like Pakistan and Spain, which have lower volumes. […] While the growth volumes seen here aren’t high, collectively they offer an opportunity for travel companies.”
“We believe bookings to the UAE rose primarily due to the recently established Dubai Visa Processing Centre in Nairobi, opened to meet the increasing number of visa applicants heading to Dubai. The increase in bookings to Pakistan may have been linked to a spike in people travelling home of Eid Al Adha, which fell in September last year. The rise in bookings to Spain is likely to have come from growing demand for cruises that leave from the country. These have been heavily promoted in Kenya over the last year,” Verweij added.
Other destinations from Kenya that recorded high volumes of bookings include Egypt and Nigeria which experienced an increase of 15 and eight per cent respectively.
