Kenya’s tourism industry loses ground

As the country’s tourism is facing the most difficult period decades, foreign visitors focus on regional destinations. One of the moments tourism industry in Kenya started to decline was when Western countries released a series of travel advisories cautioning their citizens about the threats the African country might impose.

Besides, significant competition from cheaper wildlife tours in Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique also contributed to the Kenyan tourism drop. Despite a prosperous period during 1995 and 2014, when Kenya was welcoming five times more foreign visitors than Eastern Africa destinations, in 2015 tourists arrivals in Uganda surpassed Kenya by 5.000 visitors.

In order to boost its tourism, Kenya started focusing on Asian countries visitors, India especially. Key Indian-Kenyan businessmen were targeted to market Kenyan tourism sector in India. Similarly, Kenyan tourism packages to the Chinese market were also promoted by the African country’s government.

Japan, South Korea and Singapore were selected for cultural tourism, as Kenya decided to take one step away from the traditional wildlife tours and underline the country’s diversity in other directions.

As the future of Kenyan tourism depends on the efficiency of its campaigns, The Kenyan Tourism Board should focus on innovation and budget investments in order to expand the country’s tourism outside usual visitors from Western countries.