Kenya's Hospitality Industry Improves With Political Cooling

Return of political calm, revision of negative travel advisories, and increased demand for accommodation saw Kenya's hospitality industry expand by 0.94% during the first half of this year.

Data from Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that international arrivals hit 443,950 for the period January to June 2018, from 439,807 during the same time last year, the Daily Nation reported.

The growth is attributed to the cooling of political temperatures, revision of negative travel advisories that warned international citizens from visiting Kenya.

Other contributing factors include increased demand for accommodation and other hospitality services by both local and international guests, with the number of international arrivals growing by 16.7% from 1.2 million in 2015 to 1.4 million in 2017.

  Positive Reviews

Sector analysts further said the positive reviews from travel platforms such as Trip Advisor, which ranked Nairobi as the third best place to visit in 2018, also contributed to this, as well as promotions from various campaign projects.

They include British Euro-Afro Vocals Kenya campaign project that aims to market the country's cultural tourism and material culture in the United Kingdom.

"In light of this, we are still confident of our forecast of an 11% increase in international arrivals from 1.45 million in 2017 to 1.61 million arrivals in 2018, which will result in high occupancies and revenues in the hotel sector," said analysts at private equity investments firm Cytonn.

In an earlier report published in February, the firm had indicated that with stabilizing political environment, improved security and continued marketing, they expected an 11% increase in international arrivals for both business and holiday purposes in 2018. Despite the expected increase in room and bed supply, the said factors and the continued growth of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing and Exhibition) and domestic tourism would result in better performance of the hospitality sector this year.