Hotels along Kenya’s coast said last week that they had stopped laying off staff, as business had picked up.

Many hotels have diversified to domestic and regional conference tourism in the wake of falling international visitors.

Heritage Hotels CEO, Mohamed Hersi, said Voyager Hotel in Mombasa, for instance, has been receiving large numbers of local and regional guests. He said occupancy had been averaging 78% since January, compared with 60% in the same period last year.

Hersi, who is also the Kenya Coast Tourism Association chairman, said the hotel had benefited from corporate meetings.

Travellers Beach Hotel GM, Wafula Waswa, said the hotel had 92% occupancy, thanks to conferences. He said guest numbers had averaged 80% this month, compared with 50% in February last year. “Following a tourism downturn in 2014, we diversified to conference tourism. Since then the business has improved.”

Last year, said Waswa, the facility had expanded its conference provision with a new 400-seat conference room. Apart from conference tourism, he said that the hotel had been receiving local and regional tourists. “Tourists from neighbouring, landlocked countries have been coming to Mombasa for leisure, attracted mainly by the sandy beaches.”

PrideInn Beach Resort and Spa GM, Imtyaz Mirza, also said diversification to conference tourism had been paying off. He said that last month PrideInn Group had opened a resort and convention centre with seating capacity for 2 500, which had already attracted a SKÅL World Congress slated for 2018.

“We are also bidding for 12 international meetings to transform Mombasa into a conference hub and overcome the challenge of low tourist seasons.”