Travel and tourism are one of the largest and strongest pillars of the modern economy, globally. In Kenya, tourism is a major contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (G.D.P) at 10.9%. Not only does it benefit the country economically but it’s also a means of livelihood by which approximately 990,000 Kenyans (KTSA2019) are directly employed. Tourism is also instrumental in the social-economic wellbeing of a country’s citizens, with multiplier effects in trade, agriculture, construction, manufacturing, and transport among others.
Over the last two years, tourism had greatly been decapitated. Turnovers and economic progress in the sector were long-drawn-out and undemanding. The advent of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019, its arrival in Kenya in March 2020, and subsequently its declaration as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11th March 2020 spelled a change in fortunes for the sector.
The Government of Kenya introduced various interventions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the sector, some of which were economic stimulus programs having both positive and negative effects. For example, concerning the tourism sector, the government increased initiatives to focus on domestic tourism, development of the New Vision Strategy for Kenya Tourism among others all geared toward increasing the sector’s resilience and capacity to bounce back to 2019 levels, while foreign tourism was barred after the country introduced curfews and lockdowns.
Compared to earlier projections, there had been mixed results arising from the resurgence of the outbreak in waves as well as the emergence of different strains of the virus, which had resulted in continuous review of containment measures, further complicating the recovery of this sector.
In the year 2021. International tourist arrivals in Kenya closed at 870,465 which represents a growth of 53% compared to 2020 whose arrival figures were 567,848. The resurgence of the virus in the first half of the year characterized by the Delta variant slowed down anticipated recovery but marked an improvement. The emergence of the Omicron variant towards the close of 2021 barely affected tourism activities as mass vaccination in the country, following Covid-19 health protocols, had already begun.
Growth for the rest of the year was aided by the reopening of the source markets and relaxation of the travel restrictions in the country with the progress made in the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines. The goal was to attain previous tourism numbers as high as 2019 that stood out with 2,048,834 tourists.
The Covid-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to the civil aviation authority industry in Kenya. Before the onset of the pandemic, the main hubs of the country in terms of scheduled major international and domestic chartered passenger flights generated a total of 92,315. In 2019, the highest number of flights were realized in the third quarter of the year with a total of 26,585 passenger flight landings.
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Even while the year 2020 turned out to be the worst-performing in as many years for the civil aviation industry in Kenya, there was a gradual turnaround with the last quarter of 2020 generating an average monthly growth rate of about 12% with the domestic movements providing much of this growth.
The year 2021 built up momentum created in the last few months of the year 2020. The year 2021 sustained a month-on-month growth rate of 12% from January to December. Much of this growth was sustained by domestic movements which grew by 30% compared to 2020 while the international movements grew by 4% over the same period.
Notably, the recovery in passenger flight landings has been sustained to a large extent by enhanced frequencies by existing airlines as well as the commencement of operations by new airlines to and from these airports. However, the international movements had continued to be suppressed by the restrictions still in place across the globe to try and contain the pandemic.
Altogether, passenger flight landings at the airports grew by 44% compared to the movements registered in 2020. This was still 37.5% below the pre-pandemic air traffic. It was anticipated then that with the sustained implementations of recovery measures that had been instituted and a month-on-month growth rate of over 11%, the situation will revert to the pre-Covid-19 flight arrivals in not too distant a future.
In 2021, inbound tourism earnings grew to $1.2Billion compared to the previous year’s when figures stood at $775Million, representing a growth of 65.44%. Not forgetting, the pandemic had its influence on employment, tourism is a sector that offers jobs for both skilled and unskilled personnel.
Both international and domestic tourism faced near collapse leading to substantial job losses across all tourism subsectors from its onset in March 2020. Kenya’s tourism sector lost about a 1.2Million full-time jobs (Permanent and casuals) and about KSHs. 152 billion in labor income. Despite all this, the government put in place initiatives to support sector recovery in 2021 as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to pose a challenge in destination marketing programs.
The key had been to call the travelers to experience Kenya’s magic (#MagicalKenya) while at the same time assuring them of their health and safety while in the country. Among the government’s initiatives was campaigning. The campaigns during this period were relentless and demonstrated the resilience of Kenya. Domestic campaigns that run during the pandemic season included #Inanitosha, #Stay-at-home-travel-tomorrow in support of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), and #MagicalAwaits.
The government also hosted events during the pandemic such as Magical Kenya Open, World Rally Championship- Safari Rally, World Athletics Under 20, and participation in Tokyo Olympics. Events held virtually include WTM Africa, Magical Kenya, Travel Expo, and ITB.
Kenya being a destination leveraging on wildlife conservation saw the initiation of the debut MagicalKenya Tembo naming festival. Other initiatives by the government were sensitization of Kenya’s strategic location, facilitating key anchor projects propelling the economy and supporting tourism, tourism sector initiatives and innovations, and New Vision Strategy for Kenya Tourism.
For the year 2022, there are a lot of expectations from the country’s tourism sector. Health Cabinet Secretary, Mutai Kagwe relaxed the mask mandate only to social gatherings with many people and also the country is currently not on lockdown. The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority in Kenya is back to being fully functional with no rules such as quarantines and PCR requirements imposed allowing visitors from different countries for different purposes such as holidaymaking, visiting family and friends, transit, Business and Meeting, Inventions, Conventions, and Exhibitions (MICE).
The tourism sector is expecting to generate a higher revenue than the previous year as Covid-19 seems to have tailed off. The Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife has taken massive steps toward rebuilding for the future. One of these steps is the appointment of Hollywood star and Filmmaker, Edward Norton popularly known as ‘The Incredible Hulk’ to be the brand ambassador of the inaugural Tembo naming festival. Edward Norton will help raise the profile of the festival, an annual activity to support the conservation of Elephants in the country.
The inaugural Tembo naming festival which was held last year October saw a total of KSHs.16.5 Million was raised from individuals and corporates. The Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife targets to raise KSHs.100 Million within this financial year. Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, Najib Balala said that Edward Norton’s appointment comes after his global appeal and passion for the protection of nature and species which will take the conservation efforts to the next level.
Speaking at his unveiling, Edward said that it is an honor for him to be named the Magical Kenya Tembo Naming Festival Ambassador.
“I am passionate about conservation and the preservation of our environment which includes nature and wildlife as we know it. It is, therefore, encouraging to see such initiatives aimed at boosting the protection and conservation of species like the elephants,” he said, “Kenya is a shining example of integration in the way life should be, we must be able to address sustainability within the context of human activity in the world. Kenya has led the way in showing this. A huge need for tourism in Kenya is the need for people to come and see which they don’t have in their countries.”
He referred to how the once impressive American bison migration had dwindled to a few vestigial herds while the wildebeest migration still thrives. Kenya, therefore, expects a great turnover in Tourist numbers this year for the Tembo festival and the wildebeest migration. A census conducted established that Kenya is home to a total of 36,280 elephants, representing a 21% growth from 2014 when poaching was at its peak.
Poaching is still a menace but thanks to the sustained government crackdown on poaching and the illegal ivory trade, it has immensely decreased. To show his support to the cause, Edward Norton adopted a 5-month-old elephant while pledging to adopt the rare Amboseli Park twins calved in June. Tourism stakeholders and players remain optimistic as of now for a quick buck as the world economies begin to reopen.
The year 2022 might just turn out to be the light at the end of the tunnel for the Tourism sector, with April holiday makers already beginning their travel to popular destinations across the country.