International Arrivals Through JKIA and MIA Increased by 19% in 2018

The total number of international arrivals through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and Moi International Airport (MIA) increased across all quarters of 2018, recording an 18.9 percent growth compared to 2017’s 5.9 percent growth.
Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Standards (KNBS) indicates that the number of visitor arrivals on holiday accounted for 73.9 percent of all international arrivals in 2018 while those on business accounted for 12.7 percent.
The third quarter of 2018 recorded the highest number of international arrivals having recorded a total of 599,700 visitors out of the total 2,027,700 visitors recorded at JKIA, MIA and other border points in Kenya.
Visitor Departures
The number of departing visitors increased by 13.0 percent to 1,856,800 in 2018 from 1,643,300 in 2017. The growth was mainly attributed to an increase in the number of holiday visitors in 2018.
Figures from the KNBS have revealed that residents of Germany and the United Kingdom jointly accounted for almost half of the departing residents of European countries.
Departures by residents of African countries increased by 16.4 percent to 619,600 in 2018.
Hotel Occupancy
Bed occupancy rates across the country by visitors in 2018 hit a peak in the month of August at 44.4 percent compared to an average of 32.5 percent for the whole year.
Overall, the bed occupancy rate rose to 31.4 percent in 2018 from 31.2 percent in 2017. Kenyan residents occupied more than half of the total bed-nights in 2018, showing the significance of domestic tourism.
Read Also: International Arrivals Through JKIA and Moi Up By 72,113 To June 2018
Hotel bed night occupancy by residents of Europe increased by 29.1 percent to 2,277.7 thousand in 2018.
Hotel bed night occupancy by residents of France recorded the highest growth of over 99 percent from 97,100 in 2017 to 193,300 in 2018.
Hotel Bed-Nights by Zone
Overall, hotels along the coast were the most preferred by tourists having recorded the highest number of occupancy rates in the country, at 38.6 percent of the total occupancies.
The South Coast was a more preferred destination compared to the North Coast in 2018. Bed-nights occupancy at the South Coast rose from 928,100 2017 to 1,766,200 in 2018.
Nairobi hotels followed closely with a 23.5 percent occupancy rate.
The number of hotel bed-nights occupied by US citizens in game lodges increased from 107,800 in 2017 to 133,400 in 2018.
Similarly, the number of bed-nights occupied by Chinese residents in the game lodges increased from 86,700 in 2017 to 97,500 in 2018.
European markets which include Germany, France, and the United Kingdom contributed the high number of visitors preferring coastal beach hotels.
Kenya’s coastal beaches captured the attention of the world with the naming of Diani beach as Africa’s leading beach destination in October 2018 for the 6th time in a row by the World Travel Awards (WTA).
Read Also: Best Holiday Destinations in the Mount Kenya Region
About Soko Directory Team
Soko Directory is a Financial and Markets digital portal that tracks brands, listed firms on the NSE, SMEs and trend setters in the markets eco-system.Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/SokoDirectory and on Twitter: twitter.com/SokoDirectory
- January 2025 (119)
- February 2025 (191)
- March 2025 (212)
- April 2025 (193)
- May 2025 (161)
- June 2025 (157)
- July 2025 (94)
- January 2024 (238)
- February 2024 (227)
- March 2024 (190)
- April 2024 (133)
- May 2024 (157)
- June 2024 (145)
- July 2024 (136)
- August 2024 (154)
- September 2024 (212)
- October 2024 (255)
- November 2024 (196)
- December 2024 (143)
- January 2023 (182)
- February 2023 (203)
- March 2023 (322)
- April 2023 (297)
- May 2023 (267)
- June 2023 (214)
- July 2023 (212)
- August 2023 (257)
- September 2023 (237)
- October 2023 (264)
- November 2023 (286)
- December 2023 (177)
- January 2022 (293)
- February 2022 (329)
- March 2022 (358)
- April 2022 (292)
- May 2022 (271)
- June 2022 (232)
- July 2022 (278)
- August 2022 (253)
- September 2022 (246)
- October 2022 (196)
- November 2022 (232)
- December 2022 (167)
- January 2021 (182)
- February 2021 (227)
- March 2021 (325)
- April 2021 (259)
- May 2021 (285)
- June 2021 (272)
- July 2021 (277)
- August 2021 (232)
- September 2021 (271)
- October 2021 (304)
- November 2021 (364)
- December 2021 (249)
- January 2020 (272)
- February 2020 (310)
- March 2020 (390)
- April 2020 (321)
- May 2020 (335)
- June 2020 (327)
- July 2020 (333)
- August 2020 (276)
- September 2020 (214)
- October 2020 (233)
- November 2020 (242)
- December 2020 (187)
- January 2019 (251)
- February 2019 (215)
- March 2019 (283)
- April 2019 (254)
- May 2019 (269)
- June 2019 (249)
- July 2019 (335)
- August 2019 (293)
- September 2019 (306)
- October 2019 (313)
- November 2019 (362)
- December 2019 (318)
- January 2018 (291)
- February 2018 (213)
- March 2018 (275)
- April 2018 (223)
- May 2018 (235)
- June 2018 (176)
- July 2018 (256)
- August 2018 (247)
- September 2018 (255)
- October 2018 (282)
- November 2018 (282)
- December 2018 (184)
- January 2017 (183)
- February 2017 (194)
- March 2017 (207)
- April 2017 (104)
- May 2017 (169)
- June 2017 (205)
- July 2017 (189)
- August 2017 (195)
- September 2017 (186)
- October 2017 (235)
- November 2017 (253)
- December 2017 (266)
- January 2016 (164)
- February 2016 (165)
- March 2016 (189)
- April 2016 (143)
- May 2016 (245)
- June 2016 (182)
- July 2016 (271)
- August 2016 (247)
- September 2016 (233)
- October 2016 (191)
- November 2016 (243)
- December 2016 (153)
- January 2015 (1)
- February 2015 (4)
- March 2015 (164)
- April 2015 (107)
- May 2015 (116)
- June 2015 (119)
- July 2015 (145)
- August 2015 (157)
- September 2015 (186)
- October 2015 (169)
- November 2015 (173)
- December 2015 (205)
- March 2014 (2)
- March 2013 (10)
- June 2013 (1)
- March 2012 (7)
- April 2012 (15)
- May 2012 (1)
- July 2012 (1)
- August 2012 (4)
- October 2012 (2)
- November 2012 (2)
- December 2012 (1)