The tourism industry has taken a huge hit in 2020 experiencing a drop of 74 percent indirect international tourism receipts translating to a Ksh110 Billion loss, a new report has revealed
The amount was against projected revenue of Ksh147.5 Billion for the period between January and October 2020, according to statistics released by Tourism Research Institute.
There were only 470,971 international arrivals recorded for the period as compared to 1,718, 550 arrivals recorded in the same period in 2019, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the period, Ugandans accounted for the largest number of international arrivals at (60,399) followed by USA (53,444), Tanzania (43,649), UK (42,341), and India (25,251).
Tourism CS Najib Balala observed that a near-total collapse of international arrivals occurred between April to July due to the travel restrictions. But there was a slight uptick after the resumption of international flights in August 2020.
Balala further disclosed that the tourism sector was turning around as the country was experiencing a gradual increase in international flights.
The country registered 14,049 arrivals in August, 26,018 in September, and 39,894, in October, respectively.
“We are not out of the woods yet, but we are optimistic the situation will gradually improve once the vaccines being developed become readily available to the masses.
"The whole world will be safe only when everybody is vaccinated. So we should encourage the mass distribution of the vaccines once they are ready without discrimination,” Balala stated.
He noted that out of the recorded international arrivals up to October 2020, 35.32 percent were visiting friends and family, 35.11 percent were business travelers and only 19.92 percent were holiday travelers.
This was a sharp decline compared to 63.15 percent of holiday travelers during the same period in 2019.