Hotel bookings pick as schools close, December holidays near

 

Tourists during a past holiday 

Hoteliers have reported a surge in inquiries and early bookings for the December festive season, setting the country’s tourism sector on course to hitting a new high this year.

This is mainly from the domestic market with the rise in bookings coming as schools close for the long holidays.

The coast region has reported the highest bookings with current average hotel occupancy in the region, mainly Mombasa and Diani, already at 85 per cent, with sector players expecting full occupancy at most facilities in December.

“December…we expect full house due to the high number of inquiries currently over 90 per cent. The current occupancy is 60 per cent domestic and 40 per cent international,” Kenya Coast Tourist Association board member and Travellers Beach Hotels (Mombasa) general manager, Hillary Siele, told the Star on Wednesday.

Other regions with positive outlook include the Maasai Mara, Amboseli, Samburu, the Mount Kenya Circuit and the Western and Nyanza circuits, where international visitors are increasingly touring for Safari, away from the coastal beach destinations.

According to the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers (KAHC), this year’s performance is expected to reach a new peak in post-Covid era as the industry fully recovers.

“This year has been busy all round so we expect very high occupancy during the holidays,” KAHC chief executive Mike Macharia said.

The long school holidays are among major drivers of the high bookings with Airbnb and apartments also expected to record good business.

Traditionally, the domestic market has been the main driver of the December tourism season, with international arrivals picking mid-December when winter starts.

This year, winter is expected to begin on December 21 and end on March 20, 2025, a period that residents in these countries travel to warmer regions with the Kenyan beach destination being a favourite for Europeans.

The US market mostly prefers the Mount Kenya circruit and parks led by the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Last year, hotel bed-night occupancy increased by 23.2 per cent from seven million in 2022 to 8.6 million, the Economic Survey 2024 indicates.

The domestic market accounted for more than half of the total occupancy, highlighting the significance of domestic tourism. The number of international visitor arrivals also grew by 35.4 per cent from 1.5 million to 2.1 million but fell short of a set target of 2.5 million in 2022.

Visitors to national parks and game reserves increased by 43 per cent to 3.6 million with Masai Mara recording a 67.7 per cent jump to 419, 1000 tourists during the year.

“Notable increases in visitors were also recorded at Haller’s Park, Tsavo (East), Lake Bogoria, Nairobi Safari Walk and Lake Nakuru national parks.

A decrease in number of visitors was recorded in the Mombasa Marine National Park in 2023,” Kenya National Bureau of Statistics notes in its survey.

The Tourism Research Institute (TRI) has however projected a stellar performance by the tourism industry. International tourist arrivals, a key source of foreign exchange, are expected to hit a high of 2.2 million this year with earnings projected to reach Sh359.1 billion up from 352.5 billion last year, before a further surge to Sh396.1 billion next year.

The country’s best year so far remains 2019 when arrivals hit a high of 2.04 million visitors.

“The projections were informed by global economic factors and Covid recovery patterns. The effects of the Russia invasion of Ukraine on some key markets and on global tourism supply channels was also taken on board,” TRI acting CEO David Gitonga noted.

Its based on economically tested tourism prediction models that TRI has acquired, contracted, he added.

Kenya plans to more than double international tourist arrivals in the next five years, where Kenya Tourism Board is seeking to grow the numbers to 5.5 million by 2028, in a plan that involves the private sector.

by MARTIN MWITA