Tourist arrivals at Kenya’s two major international airports surged 49.9% in the first quarter of 2023 compared with Q1 2022, according to the Central Bank of Kenya’s Monthly Economic Indicators report for March 2023.
Most tourists arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi (292 979), while Moi International Airport in Mombasa welcomed 44 846 travellers for the period January-March 2023, a total of 337 825 tourist arrivals.
The two airports account for 90% of arrivals to Kenya, with other tourists coming by sea and chartered flights.
Last year, tourist arrivals stood at 1.48 million, a 70% increase compared with 2021. This earned Kenya about US$1.93 billion in total spend by tourists, up from US$1.05 billion in 2021.
The rise in the number of arrivals points to sustained growth since the sector started to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago.
Kenya is targeting 10 million foreign tourist arrivals in the next five years, with the Kenya Tourism Board saying that the country will align its marketing initiatives with this goal, targeting emerging and established source markets.
