Chinese outbound tourism to Kenya growing following direct flights

Following China Southern Airlines’ launch of a tri-weekly direct flight to Kenya’s capital of Nairobi, Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) has seen increased interest from Chinese customers in visiting the African country, and an overall growth in inbound tourists from China. As a result, Kenya is preparing for further growth in inbound tourism, primarily from China, by upgrading Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

In an interview with Chinese news agency Xinhua, KTB’s managing director Muriithi Ndegwa explained that “China is one growth market. The numbers coming into Kenya are still very small but this is a market of 110 million outbound travellers. The potential of increasing the number of tourists is very high. We see the potential of growing our numbers exponentially”.

KTB described its goal as attracting at least 1 percent of all Chinese outbound travellers annually, which equals approximately 1.1 million Chinese outbound tourists in 2015 – a number that is increasing significantly year-over-year.

Kenya is also looking at upgrading hotel facilities and national parks to better attract “premium visitors” and to properly satisfy the demands of this growing group of tourists.

COTRI provides expert insights into the worldwide developments of China’s outbound tourism market. As Chinese outbound tourists are travelling to a large range of destinations, our publications cover a number of different regions. Important Chinese visitor activities are analysed, and detailed insights are presented.

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