Hospitality industry waiting to reap big as Kenyans head to Mombasa for Christmas and New year festivities

Tourism players at the Coast are expecting increased international guests this festive season, a boost to the industry which has largely relied on domestic tourism.

Compared to last year where business was low due to insecurity cases, this year has been fairly stable and good for business.

A number of high profile festivities like the American singer Chris Brown’s concert followed by Lamu cultural festival has seen the hospitality industry slowly recover.

Kenya Coast Tourist Association chairperson, Mohammed Hersi said bed occupancy since October has hovered between 70 and 90 per cent.

“Currently we are operating on an average of 90 per cent bed occupancy in many hotels in the region. Domestic tourism however takes a bigger percentage” Hersi disclosed to the Star.

The year 2014 was especially challenging to the hotel industry following a spate of terror threats linked to militia Al Shabaab, as a result international tourist kept away from kenya.

The government then launched an aggressive campaign to promote domestic tourism providing friendly packages in order to wean off its reliance on international tourists, and the strategy seems to have worked.

On Tuesday, beach and safari tourism got a boost after MS Silver Cloud cruise ship docked at the port of Mombasa with 438 guests.

Majority of them coming from Europe and the US via Seychelles.

Kenya was also ranked ninth globally and first in Africa top ten world destinations in a recent UK survey, Rough Guides, 2016.

The December festive session will further boost their sales as thousands of Kenyans hope to travel to the coastal city to enjoy themselves and their families and welcome new year at the beach.

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Hospitality industry waiting to reap big as Kenyans head to Mombasa for Christmas and New year festivities

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