Coronavirus pandemic wiped out Kshs. 71.9 billion of tourism
receipts last year as travel and tour remained disrupted due to
coronavirus pandemic.
According to Economic Survey 2021 by the Kenya National Bureau of
Statistics (KNBS), tourism earnings declined 43.9%, from from KSh
163.6 billion in 2019 to KSh 91.7 billion in 2020.
The reduced earnings is attributed to a crash in international arrivals
which plunged by a massive 71.5%, from 2,035,4000 in 2019 to
579,6000 last year after tour and travel remained affected since
March when outbreak was announced in the country
Overall, visitor arrivals through JKIA dropped by 72% to 399,900 in
2020 while visitor arrivals through MIA was down 70.1% to 34,100
during the same period.
“The contraction in visitor arrivals through JKIA and MIA was
mainly attributed to travel restriction measures put in place in
our tourist source markets and suspension of international
passenger flights by the Kenyan government to mitigate the
spread of the virus,” stated KNBS in the survey.
As a result of travel restrictions, hotels registered a contraction in
bed-night occupancy which dipped 58% to 3.8 million last year.
The government suspended international passenger flights from 25th
March to 31st July 2020 to contain the spread of COVID-19 a decision
attributed to fall in arrivals and earnings.
“Domestic tourism was equally constrained by restriction of
movement of persons within Nairobi Metropolitan and
Mombasa as well as suppression of most socio-economic
activities during the second and third quarter of 2020,” said
KNBS
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani speaks during launch of the 2021 Economic Survey Report on September 9, 2021.
According to the Survey, Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product also
contracted by 0.3% in 2020 from a 5% growth registered in 2019.
“The revised nominal GDP was estimated at Kshs. 10.753
trillion in 2020 from 10.256 in 2019. So you can see a growth of
about Kshs. 500 billion,” saod Ukur Yatani, Cabinet Secretary for
National Treasury and Planning
“The contraction of economic performance was attributed to the
disruption of labour supply, brought about by the restriction of
movement, and social distancing measures meant to contain the
spread of COVID-19. This also reduced demand for goods and
services.
According to Economic Survey 2021 by the Kenya National Bureau of
Statistics (KNBS), tourism earnings declined 43.9%, from from KSh
163.6 billion in 2019 to KSh 91.7 billion in 2020.
“The contraction of economic performance was attributed to the
disruption of labour supply, brought about by the restriction of
movement, and social distancing measures meant to contain the
spread of COVID-19. This also reduced demand for goods and
services.
The decline witnessed in accommodation and food serving activities,
education, professional and administrative service was however offset
by growth in construction sector which grew 11.8% last year from
5.6% in 2020 followed by human health and social workers activities at 6.7%, finance and insurance 5.6%, agriculture, forestry and fishing
4.8% same as ICT.
KNBS says in the report that total value of marketed production in the
agriculture sector increased 9.3% to Kshs. 509.7 Billion in 2020.
This was mainly as a result of increased production tea and food crops
such as beans, rice, sorghum and millet.
Going forwards, CS Yatani says focus will be on measures that will
help steer the economic to the recovery path after a difficult 2020.
“The government is currently focusing on the implementation
of the economic recovery strategy that will aim at restoring the
economy to a strong growth path, creating jobs, and economic
opportunities across all regions of the country with a view of
tackling social and income inequalities,” added Yatani.
