Kenya’s tourism recorded a growth of 20.3 per cent in 2017. This growth saw the sector net Sh. 120 billion from the Sh. 99.69 billion earned in 2016.
Statistics from the Ministry of Toursim showed that international arrivals increased by 9.8 per cent to 1.4 million from the previous year’s 1.3 million.
The United States of America (USA) remained Kenya’s leading market, growing by 17 per cent with 114,507 arrivals.
The United Kingdom was second with an 11.1 per cent share of the arrivals at 107,078 tourists. Uganda was third with a share of 6.4 per cent at 61,542 arrivals.
Other top markets were India, China, Germany, Italy and South Africa.
A total of 4 million bed nights were taken up by Kenyans last year compared to 3.5 million in 2016.
“Domestic market performance is measured in terms of bed nights taken up by Kenyans touring the country. This denotes a 15.9 per cent growth,” said Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala.
