Business

Tourist arrivals in Kenya jump 30.7 per cent in 2023

Tourism Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua welcomes the MSC Portia cruise ship at the Port of Mombasa, with 2,500 passengers and 1,000 crew members, on February 3, 2024. (Photo: Ministry of Tourism)

By Ibrahim Omar | Thursday, February 8, 2024

Kenya received 1. 541 million tourists in 2022, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), meaning the arrivals in 2023 hit 2.003 million.

The number of tourists visiting Kenya increased by 30.7 per cent in 2023, a major boost for the thousands of businesses that rely on the tourism value chain.

Data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows tourist arrivals rose sharply aiding the revival of a sector heavily hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keep reading

“Tourist arrivals improved by 30.7 per cent in 2023 compared to 2022, and were 19.3 per cent higher in December 2023 compared to December 2022,” said the CBK.

Kenya received 1. 541 million tourists in 2022, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), meaning the arrivals in 2023 hit 2.003 million.

This underlines the sector’s rapid recovery since 2020 when tourist arrivals plummeted to just 579,600 due to international travel restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of the virus.

The sector has grown year-on-year after countries lifted restrictions which allowed global travel to resume - the number of tourists arriving in Kenya increased to 871,300 in 2021 and nearly doubled to 1.541 million in 2022.

However, tourist numbers are yet to return to pre-COVID-19 levels, having hit 2.035 million in 2019, before the pandemic was first declared.

The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi and the Moi International Airport (MIA) in Mombasa, which are Kenya’s largest, are the main entry points for tourists visiting the country. Others are the Malaba, Namanga and Moyale borders.

The number of visitor arrivals on holiday accounted for 36.3 per cent of all international arrivals in 2022 while business accounted for 27.3 per cent.

Kenya’s game parks and national reserves remained the key attractions for tourists, among them the Maasai Mara National Reserve, the Nairobi National Park and the Tsavo National Park.

These and other parks are home to the famous Big Five animals - lions, elephants, buffaloes, rhinos and leopards. Cheetahs, wildebeests and giraffes are also a key attraction for tourists.

The government has promised to promote investment in adventure, relaxation, sports, conference and medical tourism, among others, to grow tourist numbers to 200 million over the next 10 years and increase foreign earnings to the country.