Tourists at the Maasai Mara Game Reserve. Tourism earnings dropped by
7.4 per cent to Sh96 billion in the 2012/2013 financial year due to
uncertainties caused by the March 4 General Election. File
By SANDRA CHAO,
Kenya's tourism earnings dropped by 7.4 per cent
to Sh96 billion in the 2012/2013 financial year due to uncertainties
caused by the March 4 General Election.
The earnings were Sh7.7 billion less than the 103.9 billion generated the previous year.
“Incidents which contributed to the non-resumption
of charters, the uncertainty surrounding the March 4 election and the
Euro zone crisis led to a drop in growth,” East African Affairs,
Commerce and Tourism secretary Phyllis Kandie said during a press
briefing in Nairobi Wednesday.
However, she said the decline was not as drastic
because the weakening of the Kenya shilling in the previous year had led
to the record earnings.
In dollar terms - the earnings divided by the
average exchange rate - the sector recorded a flat growth. The two years
could also not be exactly comparable after the ministry changed its
reporting from the calendar (January to December) to the financial (July
to June) year.
During the period under review 1.16 million
tourists visited the country, 112,573 less than the previous year, by
air and sea. Mombasa international airport had the biggest decline in
arrivals of 13 per cent to receive 182,651 visitors while the Jomo
Kenyatta international airport received 983,715 visitors after
experiencing an 8.1 per cent decline.
The coast region has in recent months experienced a
decline in chartered flights and lost tourists to Zanzibar, Mauritius
and Seychelles due to the perception that it is a mass market and lacks
exclusivity.
Cruise tourism grew by over 400 per cent with the arrival of a cruise ship in December last year and another at
No comments :
Post a Comment