Kenya’s Minister of Tourism, Najib Balala, said on Wednesday that he expected the country’s tourism earnings to grow by 15% this year.
In a sit-down interview with Business News, Balala said, with visitor arrivals growing by 17% to 1.7 million visitors, earnings were due to rise as well. He said domestic travel had increased, but bookings for the new direct flight between Nairobi and New York had shown that inbound growth for the country was strong, and that tourism remained a key foreign exchange earner for the country. At the same event, Balala told gathered media that Kenya had intensified its campaign to attract Chinese visitors, hoping for 100 000 over the next two years.
He said, in addition to the USA and China, Kenya hoped to grow its arrivals from India, Central Europe and Africa. With regard to tapping into the African market, he explained that infrastructure and connectivity were key: “We started the first phase with giving visas on arrival for Africans. Now we are looking at how we can create intra-connectivity through air access to encourage visitors.”
Watch the interview with Balala here:
