Photo courtesy CruiseMapper

A report by the Tourism Research Institute (TRI) reveals that the United States was Kenya’s leading international tourism market in 2022.

The TRI report showed that 209,360 American tourists visited in Kenya last year, making up 16 per cent of all arrivals totalling 1,483,752.

The increase in the number of American tourists coming to Kenya was partly the result of more cruise ships docking in Mombasa, together with Kenya Airways increasing the frequency of its direct flights to the United States.

US Overtakes UK

As a result of the greater inflow of American tourists the US has now overtaken the United Kingdom as Kenya’s leading tourism market.

Obviously, the number of tourists coming to Kenya in 2022 increased dramatically in large measure because of the end of the Covid-19 restrictions. However, the number of tourist arrivals in 202 could show a further increase following the opening of the modern Sh1.4 billion cruise terminal in Mombasa.

In-bond tourism earnings grew to Sh268.09 billion as domestic bed occupancy rose to 3.68 million, up from 3.1 million in 2021.

Tourism in Kenya is the second-largest source of foreign exchange revenue following agriculture and the sector employs some 1.6 million people.