Lillian Gaitho, PR Manager for Jovago.com, has becomea regular feature writer on this blog and her choice of topics
has made her a reader’s favourite.
Today she is taking look at visitor streams, both inside
Kenya and from abroad, and perhaps to the surprise of many
are Nigerians now leading continental arrivals by some margin.
Enjoy the read!
Nigeria is Kenya’s Best African Customer!
The latest annual research by World Travel and Tourism Council in collaboration with Oxford Economics indicated that Travel & Tourism contributed up to 9.5% of the Global GDP. This study also revealed an upward trajectory in growth, having registered a 3.9% increase in monies spent by 2013 travelers to a projected 4.3 for the year just ended (2014)
Closer home, the Kenyan Tourism Industry maintains the stand as the principal source of foreign exchange as well as one of the main social economic hub, contributing to more than the global Average at 12.1% (WTTC 2013)
A new survey on local, regional and international travel based on a 2014 bookings by Jovago.com reveals Nigeria as the dominating African tourist hub for Kenya while the United Kingdom takes lead in international bookings destined for Kenya.
As the results indicate, with the new wave of development in infrastructure, introduction of new tourism products besides the traditional safari and culture and emergence of new attractions, Kenya is in no doubt aiming for the prize when it comes to Tourism in Africa.
Domestic Travelers
Capital city Nairobi stands undoubtedly as a major business hub as most of the domestic travelers – a whopping 79% – originate from there. Mombasa had 6% of travelers heading for Kenyan destinations while Eldoret takes 3%. The other cities spread across Kenya registered a combined 12%.
Unsurprisingly, Nairobi is the most popular destination for domestic travelers taking in 25% of the total in-bound bookings, Naivasha is also a preferred destination as 21% of the travelers go there. Mombasa and Eldoret are also respectively popular destinations amongst other cities across Kenya.
International Travelers
Our survey shows that the bulk of international travelers to Kenya are from the Nigeria closely followed by the United Kingdom. Travelers from the United States and France rank 3rd and 4th respectively and Uganda comes in 5th.
On the other hand, the most popular destinations for Kenyans are The Netherlands, closely followed by United Arab Emirates. South Africa and the United Kingdom come in 3rd and 4th place respectively and Belgium comes in 5th!
Most Remote Booking
The most remote bookings made to hotels in Kenya spanned from across the world. The Nordic island of Iceland was one of the locations from which bookings to Kenya were made! Remote bookings were also made from Georgia, Afghanistan and Australia but the farthest in air miles was from Melbourne, Australia (11507 kilometers).
Most Visited Countries in East Africa
Kenya and Tanzania top this list closely followed by Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda.
Why Kenyans Travel
75% of Kenyans travel for business-related purposes while the rest travel for pleasure.
This survey is based on all the travelers who made bookings through jovago.com in 2014
