New Flights Launch

Some of the two hundred and forty passengers walk on foot as others disembark from an Air Italian chartered flight Boeing 757 at the Moi International Airport. The high tourism season has just started and the airport is expecting fourteen more flights weekly with tourists from abroad. PHOTO/GIDEON MAUNDU.

Tourist arrivals are expected to soar in September when three new airlines from Europe launch flights to the country, a Cabinet minister.Minister for Tourism Najib Balala said the airlines from Holland, France and the United Kingdom are expected to fly in a large number of holidaymakers to Kenya in two months time.This will increase the number of charter flights from Europe from the current 20 per week to 23 and boost hotel business which was hard hit hard by lack of guests following the post-election violence last year.

Marketing campaign

Mr Balala said that in the coming months, Russian airlines are also expected to bring in tourists for holidays following successful marketing campaigns by the local tourism marketing team.He said that in September, he will lead a delegation to Russia to attend an international tourism fair. “In September, we expect the number of tourists visiting the country to rise following the launch of new charter flights from Holland, France and UK. In the coming months we shall also receive a good number of holidaymakers from Russia, said the minister.

Our aggressive marketing campaigns in Europe have started to bear fruit. I have just come from Russia where we received good support from tour operators who welcomed our tourist packages.
Mr Balala expressed optimism that the industry would fully recover in December since many European tourists are expected to come for holidays when the winter season kicks in.

Have reopened

Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers Coast branch chairman Titus Kangangi said some hotels which had closed down due to lack of guests in April have reopened to welcome visitors.He said resorts in the North Coast have recorded an average bed occupancy of 80 per cent compared to below 50 per cent some months ago.The KAHC official added that hotels in the South Coast have bed occupancies of between 50 and 70 per cent while those in Malindi and Watamu have between 50 and 60 per cent.