The first group of Chinese travellers to Kenya arrived in Nairobi on Saturday (February 11) following a three-year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic.

Kenya, along with South Africa, was one of 20 countries given the green light by the Chinese government to welcome tour groups into the country. This came after China relaxed its COVID-19 classification policies (with effect January 8).

Senior government officials and members of Kenya’s tourism and hospitality sector met the group of 40 tourists who flew from Guangzhou to Nairobi on the inaugural China Southern Airlines flight.

"Today is exciting for us because it means we are now resuming full connectivity with one of our growing source markets for international tourist arrivals," said John Ololtuaa, Principal Secretary at the State Department of Tourism.

Currently, China was Kenya's sixth-largest tourism source market, contributing 5.5% of total international tourist arrivals in the country during the pre-pandemic period, said Ololtuaa.