Net tourism net earnings jumped 47 percent in the first quarter of this year on the easing of the slump that has hit the industry over the last two years.
The Latest Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) data shows travel account receipts jumped from Sh15.2 billion in the first quarter of 2021 to Sh22.4 billion between January and March this year.
The earnings jumped as the number of visitors arrivals through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Moi International Airport rose by 85.1 percent from 121,739 in the first quarter of 2021 to 225,321 visitors in the first quarter of 2022.
The strong recovery in the tourism industry drove the rebound in the economy with accommodation and food services expanding 56.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2022 from a contraction of 33 percent on higher tourist numbers as Covid-19 curbs were relaxed.
KNBS data shows gross domestic product expanded by 6.8 percent in the first quarter up from a 2.7 percent growth in a similar period last year.
“The performance was supported by rebounds in most economic activities that had contracted significantly in the first quarter of 2021 due to measures instituted to curb the spread of Covid-19,” said the KNBS.
Kenya’s tourism sector has rebounded on a sharp decline in Covid-19 infections and hospital admissions which made the government relax coronavirus restrictions, lifting requirements for compulsory wearing of face masks in open places and ending quarantine measures.
This saw the US ease travel restrictions on Kenya in the wake of declining cases of Covid-19, offering a boost to the country’s recovering tourism sector.
Kenya was moved to level one from level three, which requires US citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to a destination and reconsider any planned travel.
The downgrade to level one boosts summer bookings from a country that accounted for the largest share of foreign visitors to Kenya last year at 136,981.
Kenya’s coronavirus cases have been dropping steadily amid a rise in the number of people who have been vaccinated.
Some of the hotels shut down during the pandemic were reopened and industry hires resumed as demand picked up.
Nairobi’s iconic Fairmont The Norfolk reopened after the facility shut down for over 21 months amid the coronavirus crisis.
Kenya has also seen a boost in the expansion of some hotel chains, with local hospitality group PrideInn signing an agreement to manage the third hotel belonging to Azure Hospitality Group at the Signature mall on the Mombasa highway named PrideInn Plaza.
Sarova Hotels also signed a seven-year management lease of Kisumu’s Imperial Hotel from the Gilani family that will see it renamed Sarova Imperial Hotel Kisumu and refurbished to 93 renovated guest bedrooms, including suites, new meetings facilities, and upgraded food and beverage outlets.
