According to the Tourism Sector Performance Report 2019, Uganda and Tanzania continue to be major tourist sources for Kenya after the USA.
Kenya received 245,437 tourists from America last year, the highest from one country, while Uganda and Tanzania were second and third with 223,010 and 193,740 respectively.
Following the introduction of Uganda Airline’s direct flights from Entebbe to Nairobi and Mombasa last year, arrivals from Uganda are expected to increase further this year.
Mombasa doubles as a business and holiday destination for Uganda and the new air link is a boost to both.
“The security situation remained stable in the year with sustained investments by the government in a number of campaigns to woo tourists paying off,” reads the report released last week.
Mombasa International Airport registered the highest number of tourist arrivals with 8.56% growth due to increasing number of holiday makers while JKIA recorded a 6.07% increase due to rising number of direct flights such as Air France in March 2019.
A report by audit firm PwC dubbed Hotels Outlook: 2019–2023 report shows that growth in tourism numbers coupled by governments’ efforts to promote MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) infrastructure to attract more business tourists is driving the growth of the hotels industry.
As a result, the hotel industry in Tanzania and Kenya to be among the fastest growing on the continent, with compound annual increases of 8.2% and 7.4% respectively.
