Hillary Siele, general manager of Travellers Beach Hotel and Spa in Mombasa, has no rooms to sell until December. He has hired extra staff on seasonal contracts for the October to January period.
“Things are opening up,” he told The Star. His one worry is next year’s election. “The international market is normally worried about travel during electioneering,” he said.
The numbers behind the rebound
International arrivals rose from 1,483,752 in 2022 to 2,792,875 as of June 2026, an increase of 88 per cent, according to the Government Delivery Unit. Tourism earnings more than doubled over the same period, from Sh268 billion to Sh564 billion.
Hotel bed nights climbed 72.6 per cent to about 11.56 million, with Nairobi, Mombasa and the Maasai Mara circuit close to full at peak times. Domestic bed nights rose almost 24 per cent.
Conferences and events have been a bright spot. International delegates rose 67.5 per cent to 38,705, and the renovation of the Kenyatta International Convention Centre is about 73 per cent complete.
Flights still the bottleneck
Industry players say the beach market lags. Sam Ikwaye, executive officer of the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers at the Coast, said bed capacity in the region has grown from about 30,000 to 50,000 with the rise of apartments, villas and short-stay rentals, but not enough visitors fly in directly.
“If there are no direct flights into destinations, then we are talking about growth on paper but we are not really feeling it as industry,” he said.
Mohammed Hersi of Pollman’s Tours and Safaris welcomed a second Ethiopian Airlines flight into Mombasa but criticised limits on Turkish Airlines, which is restricted to three flights and 450 seats a week into the city.
The Kenya Tourism Board signed promotion deals with Emirates and Qatar Airways in September. Chief executive June Chepkemei said the aim is to raise Middle East arrivals to 50,000 from 20,480 in the last financial year, which at about Sh300,000 per visitor could bring in roughly Sh15 billion.
For holidaymakers, the message from the coast is simple. Book early for December and the January school break, when hotels expect to be fullest.
Sources: The Star | Kenya News Agency
Photo: Nicor / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
