Tourism to spur growth next year
By John Otini, November 11, 2021
Rapid rollout of vaccines coupled with an attractive tourist destination and bullish infrastructure projects will drive recovery of Kenya’s tourism sector in 2022, credit ratings agency Fitch has said.
However, the American agency says that in the short term, the industry will still struggle with Corvid-19 shocks.
“The short-term outlook for Kenya’s tourism industry remains unsettled due to the ongoing disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic, though the rapid roll out of the vaccination programme in a range of key source markets should support a solid recovery in international tourism arrivals from 2022 onwards,” Fitch said in its latest Kenya tourism report.
Tourism reports
The report comes weeks after Kenya’s tourism sector was feted by the World Travel Awards 2021 for having some of the best beaches, hotels and airlines in the World.
“Kenya remains an attractive tourism destination due to the strength of the safari sector and popularity of beach holidays, enabling the country to attract a range of visitors.
Ongoing investment into transport infrastructure and other tourism-related facilities will support the recovery and growth of the tourism industry over the longer term,” Fitch reported.
Kenya’s tourism industry early this month received a shot in the arm after the country was awarded more than ten awards in different categories at the World Travel Awards, Africa and Indian Ocean 2021.
Kenya also enjoyed a strong showing, with the capital Nairobi being named as ‘Africa’s Leading Business Travel Destination’ with Kenyatta International Convention Centre collecting ‘Africa’s Leading Meetings & Conference Centre’.
Heavy investment
The Jubilee Administration has invested heavily in roads, railways, harbours and electricity connections putting Kenya on the map in infrastructure quality. This has seen an increase in investments in the travel industry.
These means more people are getting back their jobs and the economic activities are improving with the Treasury predicting a 5.6 per cent economic growth this year.