“Our strength is the diversity of the destination”
ITB Berlin News spoke with Kenya Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, Hon. Rebecca Miano, who discussed Kenya’s tourism growth and highlighted the main topics Kenya is presenting at the show this year.
How did tourism to Kenya perform in 2024?
Kenya’s tourism sector experienced record-breaking growth in 2024 with 2.4 million international visitors, surpassing the pre-pandemic record of 2.1 million arrivals in 2019. This represents a growth of 14.6% over 2023. Inbound tourism earnings grew even stronger up 19.79% from 2023. This underscores the sector’s crucial role in Kenya’s economic growth and its potential for further expansion.
What are your hopes for 2025?
Looking ahead, the future of Kenya’s tourism sector remains bright. UN Tourism projects global tourist arrivals to grow by 3 to 5% in 2025. I think that we can exceed these projections, targeting 3 million international visitors and €4.17 billion in inbound earnings.
What is Kenya presenting at ITB Berlin this year?
Our strength is the diversity of the destination. Kenya has more to offer than beaches and wildlife safaris. Our diversified tourism experiences include adventure, culture and heritage, sports tourism and birding among others. We are dedicating time at ITB Berlin 2025 to share Kenya’s rich offering on adventure. Other new segments include digital nomads, retirees, cruises and wellness. We have received positive responses to new segments from these targeted groups.
How is Kenya focusing on developing tourism sustainably?
Through diversification of markets and products, we support various sustainable travel initiatives such as “one tree one tourist”, plastic ban in national parks and reserves or the use of electric cars and solar energy in parks. We work closely with the private sector, sustainability agencies and UN Tourism to ensure we align with the current objectives.
