For an election year, Kenya’s 20 per cent tourism growth in 2017 was exceptional.
Based
on past trends, the prolonged electioneering period and political
unrest would have been expected to negatively impact the sector.
For
instance, for the 2007-2008 period that was marked by post-election
violence, government statistics show that tourism was severely affected.
International
tourist arrivals slumped from the highest peak of the decade, 1,817,000
in 2007, to 1,203,200 in 2008. Earnings dropped from Sh65.2 billion to a
low of Sh52.7 billion as visitors kept away from the country.
In
the 2002 general election, the sector was also hit hard, with earnings
sliding 11 per cent from Sh24.3 billion the previous year to Sh21.7
billion.
Slight drop
The 2013 electoral season was no different, although the damage was not as extensive as had been witnessed in 2002 and 2007.
Tourism earnings fell slightly by 2.1 per cent, attributed to the fact the polls and its aftermath were relatively peaceful.
Against this background, it would not have unusual to expect that last year’s polls would again dent the sector’s performance.
The
industry, however, shrugged off the prolonged electioneering period and
political chaos and unrest to record earnings of about Sh120 billion.
This
was a 20.3 per cent growth compared to the previous year. This is also
the highest earnings recorded recorded by the sector this decade.
Tourism arrivals also grew from 1,342,900 in 2016 to 1,474,700.
Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala attributed the growth to
the fact that Kenya grew stronger in 2017 as a destination brand,
following positive visibility and endorsement the country received
through global accolades such as World Travel awards’ declaration of
Kenya as the world’s best Safari destination.
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Tourists at a beach hotel in Mombasa. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Still below 2011 highs
Notably,
the number of tourist arrivals in 2017 was 23.6 per cent below 2011's,
when the country registered the highest number of arrivals in decades.
Last
year’s performance was remarkable for Kenya considering that only five
countries out of its 30 main tourist markets worldwide achieved positive
growth compared with the benchmark year 2011, as the data by the
Tourism ministry shows.
These countries are Uganda
44.2 per cent, China 42.9 per cent, Ethiopia 23.4 per cent, South Africa
2.8 per cent and India 2.0 per cent.
Domestic tourism numbers also rose quite significantly, marking
the decade’s second highest year-on-year growth after 2009 when the
numbers rose 37.3 per cent from the previous year.
The
growth last year is attributable to government's investment in
promotion of domestic tourism through awareness campaigns sensitising
Kenyans on attractive destinations and experiences in Kenya.
Last
year, 4.05 million bed nights were taken up by Kenyans in 2017 compared
to 3.5 million in 2016, denoting a 15.8 per cent growth.
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