Kenya’s International Arrivals decline by 72% between January and October

The ongoing Covid-19 crisis saw the number of international arrivals into Kenya drop by 72% between January and October 2020.

The 10 months data released on Wednesday by the Tourism Research institute shows the country received 470,971 international arrivals during the period compared to 1,718,550 in the same period last year.

According to the statistics, the country experienced good performance for January and February but drastically declined in March when Kenya recorded its first coronavirus case.

A worse collapse of international arrivals happened between April to July due to travel restrictions. After resumption of international flights in August, a slight improvement occurred.

“We are not out of the woods yet, but we are optimistic the situation will gradually improve once the vaccines being developed become readily available to the masses,” said Najib Balala, Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary.

Balala added that the whole world would be safe only when everyone is vaccinated. “So we should encourage mass distribution of the vaccines once they are ready without discrimination,” he said.

The country has recorded gradual growth in arrivals since the resumption of international flights, registering 14,049 arrivals in August, 26,018 in September and 39,894 and October respectively.

A few of the arrivals were holiday travelers while others were business travelers or visiting families and friends.

The decline in holiday travel numbers is an indication that only essential travel is happening and the holiday market will take longer to recover.