JOHN DAVID

NAIROBI, KENYA - Kenya's tourism sector is set to hit record arrivals this year, signaling a complete turnaround for the industry.

Already, arrivals over the last six months surpass the peak levels recorded in 2007 giving strong indications that the industry is well on the recovery path.

Statistics from the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) shows that arrivals in the first half of the year grew 20.5 % to 403,996, exceeding the 2007 levels when Kenya posted its best performance yet with 400,362 arrivals over the same period.

The industry is now projecting to hit an ambitious 1.2 million mark in arrivals based on the diversification of markets and new strategies which are expected to attract more tourists.

The situation is helped by the improved global economy which has availed disposable income to prospective tourists in emerging markets within Eastern Europe, China, Middle East and Russia.

"Barring any eventualities that could harm these good prospects, we hope to maintain this upward trajectory and we are doing all that we can to ensure we steady the climate," Kenya's Tourism minister Najib Balala told a tourism consortium in Nairobi last week.

In 2007, the country earned Ksh63.5 billion from 1,048,732 tourists, but the momentum was halted by the disputed post election skirmishes in 2008 and the global economic crisis that substantially cut travel budgets.

Sector earnings slumped to Ksh52.7 billion from 729,000 arrivals in 2008 before rising to Ksh62.5 billion last year when arrivals increased to 952,481 tourists.

Things are looking up and all things being equal, we should register record performance this year.