Kenya’s travel and tourism industry is expected to grow at an annual average of 6% over the next decade.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) benchmarking report 2017, Kenya’s Travel and Tourism GDP is projected to grow at 6% annually, just ahead of total economy growth at 5,9%.

The WTTC report shows that Kenya’s travel and tourism industry is larger than the country’s mining, chemicals, manufacturing and automotive industries combined.

On employment, the WTTC report says travel and tourism directly supports nearly three times as many jobs as the banking sector and more than twice as many as the financial services sector in the country. It also showed that 1.1 million direct and indirect jobs were supported by the industry in 2016, or 9.2% of the country’s total employment.

“These figures show that the tourism sector is not only a major engine for economic growth in Kenya, but is also a creator of jobs,” says David Scowsill, President and CEO of WTTC.

“In Kenya, as in other countries, travel and tourism provide jobs across all levels of society and from the most remote rural areas to the busiest city centre.”

The report indicates that Kenya will need another 500 000 people to serve the travel and tourism industry over the next 10 years. In light of this forecast, Scowsill added: “In order for our sector to continue to boost the economy and livelihoods in Kenya, it is important to address the anticipated talent shortage. We depend on quality people to deliver a quality product to our customers.”