Kenya's int'l tourist arrivals dip by 15.8 pct in 2013 due to insecurity

Saturday, April 26, 2014

NAIROBI -- Kenya's international tourist arrivals for 2013 declined by 15.8 percent to 1.49 million from 1. 78 million in 2012, officials said in Nairobi on Friday.

Tourism Cabinet Secretary Phyllis Kandie told media briefing that the drop is largely attributed to increased terrorist attacks that have hit the country.

"Since the September 2013 Nairobi mall attack, the country has suffered significantly declines in arrivals," Kandie said.

Mombasa and Nairobi including parts of northern Kenya have in past witnessed grenade attacks where hundreds of people have lost their lives to terrorists since the troops launched cross border incursion into Somalia in 2011.

Kenya authorities this year foiled a major terror plot in Mombasa and arrested two suspects and seized a vehicle that was found laden with explosives.

According to the ministry of tourism, earnings for the sector in 2013 also declined by four percent to close at 1.02 billion U.S. dollars as compared to the 1.14 billion dollars recorded in 2012.

Kandie said that despite the current challenges, Kenya is still optimistic that it will be able to attract at least three million visitors annually by the end of 2017.

She said that Britain, which is Kenya's largest source market, recorded a 19.5 percent reduction as arrivals moved from 185,976 in 2012 to 149,699 last year.

Kandie added that in order to shore up the sector, the government is currently negotiating with a consultant to help turn around Kenya's image internationally.

Kenya is also planning to revive the tourist police unit. "We will roll out the force in the next financial year so as to support in increasing the visibility of security in the sector," she said.

Tourism currently contributes about 11 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

The cabinet secretary said that the 16 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) that was imposed on the sector last year also affected tourist demand.

"Park fees, hotel and other travel expenses have all increased and this has made Kenya a less competitive destination," she said.

Tourism Principal Secretary Ibrahim Mohamed said that quality of tourism services has been deemed to be low compared to international standards mainly due to inadequate regulations.

"We have therefore allocated 2.3 million dollars for the implementation of the tourism recovery program," he said.

Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) Managing Director Muriithi Ndegwa said that Europe still remains the main source region as it accounted for 43 percent of all visitors.

Ndegwa said that the number of Chinese tourists in 2013 declined by 10 percent as the figure moved from 41,000 to 37,000.

"Our target is that in three years will receive at least 100, 000 visitors per year from the Asian country. We want to target the medium to high spenders," he said.

Kenya in mid-April hosted the largest delegation of Chinese tourists to ever visit the country, marking a major success for the country in tapping emerging markets for tourism especially in Asia and the Far East.

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