NAIROBI, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's international tourists arrivals are projected to jump by about 5 percent in 2019, a senior government official said on Wednesday.
Najib Balala, Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, told journalists in Nairobi that the tourism sector will not experience the 37 percent year on year growth witnessed in 2018 due to a number of challenges.
"We are projecting only a slight growth in the number of international arrivals by the end of 2019 fueled by intensified marketing efforts in key source markets," Balala said during the launch of the partnership between Express Travel Group and Travel Leaders Group to form Travel Leaders Kenya.
Balala noted that in 2018 Kenya experienced a rate of growth of the tourism sector that is faster than the global average of 3.9 percent and the Sub-Saharan Africa average of 3.3 percent.
"This makes Kenya the third largest tourism economy in Sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa and Nigeria, both of which grew substantially less than Kenya in 2018," he added.
Kenya's international tourists arrivals stood at 2.03 million in 2018. The Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife has set a target of attracting 2.5 million international tourists annually by the end of 2024 and 3 million by 2030.
According to Balala, Kenya is a long haul destination for international travelers in the main tourist source countries in Europe and North America.
"As such we cannot achieve in the short term high tourists number like Egypt and Morocco that are close to Europe," he added.
