As part of its five-year strategic plan, the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) is targeting 5.5 million international tourist arrivals over the next five years and increasing the sector's contribution to $6.3 billion annually.
Kenya expects international tourist arrivals to almost triple over the next five years as the sector moves towards full recovery from the pandemic.
According to KTB chairman Francis Gichaba, the sector is now in full recovery, with arrivals expected to close at just over 1.9 million visitors by the end of this year.
"We are very optimistic that with the support from the private sector and other key players in the industry, our performance will even surpass the 2019 arrivals to over 2 million and progressively beyond," Gichaba told tourism stakeholders in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, gathered to validate the KTB's strategic plan for 2023-2028.
As part of this strategy, the KTB aims to achieve 5.5 million arrivals by June 2028 and increase the tourism sector's contribution to Kenya's economy to Sh1,000 billion ($6.3 billion) annually.
The KTB aims to increase the country's tourism market share to 6% from the current continental figure of 2.26% and the contribution to employment to 10% from 7.9% in 2022, according to The Star news portal.
In late October, Kenyan President William Ruto announced at the Summit of the Three Basins on Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Tropical Forests in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, that his country will abolish visa requirements for all African visitors by the end of the year.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, tourism is one of Kenya's main sources of foreign exchange, along with diaspora remittances, horticulture and tea exports.