Kenya’s Tourism Research Institute projects that the country will reach 1.4 million arrivals and over KES265 billion (€2.2bn) in earnings by December, about 74% of 2019’s best ever tourism figures of more than two million visitors. 

TRI has posted multiple updates on Twitter, outlining Kenya’s annual tourism sector performance report.

In one post it notes that the country saw 924 812 arrivals between January and August 2022, compared with 483 246 recorded arrivals in the same period in 2021. This reflects a 91% increase in arrivals.

Of the arrivals recorded up to August this year, 313 466 were there for holiday, 274 722 were visiting family or friends, 258 889 for business-related purposes, 43 883 were transiting through the country, 16 196 were there for educational purposes, and the remainder were there for other purposes such as religion and sports.

Most of the arrivals were from the US, Uganda, UK, Tanzania, India, and Germany.

The increase in numbers is also reflected in the country’s tourism earnings, which have more than doubled to KES167 billion (€1.4bn) from KES83 billion (€697.4m) in the previous financial year, representing a recorded growth of 101%.

The highest earnings were recorded in July, with KES26.99 billion (€226.8m), followed by KES23.86 billion (€200.5m) in August.

2019 was the country’s best ever year for tourism, with revenue of KES298 billion (€2.5bn), while 2020 was the worst year at KES88 billion (€739.4m). At the end of the financial year, 2021 recorded earnings of KES126 billion (€1.1bn).