Travel advisories issued against Kenya by Western countries last year caused a decline in the number of tourist arrivals.
According to the Managing Director of Kenya Tourist Board, Mr Muriithi Ndegwa, the sector earned the country Sh96 billion last year compared to Sh97.9 billion in 2011.
The KTB figures show that last year’s arrivals went down by 29, 000 with visitors from traditional European markets slightly decreasing.
“The drop is attributed to the biting euro zone crisis, the world economic crunch and travel advisories issued against the country over insecurity fears,” Muriithi said.
The US and some European countries had warned their citizens against travelling to Kenya over imminent terrorism activities especially in Mombasa, which serves as a major port and travel hub in Kenya.
tourism competition
The KTB said the uncertainty over the outcome of the just concluded general election, the subsequent petition had also affected the industry.
In a speech read on his behalf by John Orumoi, the head of Finance at KTB during the 18th NationalTourism Competition at Utalii College, Muriithi said potential visitors adopted a wait-and-see attitude due to the occurrences of the previous election.
KTB is also putting together strategies to ensure continuous
visitors from the emerging markets including India, China and South Africa which all recorded an increase in the number of tourist arrivals.
