Kenya played host to about 80,000 inbound Chinese tourists in 2024, up from 51,000 in 2023, and hopes to get more this year, a senior government official said on Thursday.
John Ololtuaa, principal secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, told Xinhua in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi that the increase was mainly driven by marketing campaigns in five major cities in China.
“The government, through the Kenya Tourism Board, ensured that Kenya had in-market agency representation in China so that Chinese tour operators and travel agents could effectively raise awareness of Kenya’s unique tourism products,” Ololtuaa said on the sidelines of the launch of preparations for the World Chamber Forum-Africa Global Summit 2025 scheduled to take place in Kenya in April.
Hosted in conjunction with the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a trade lobby, the three-day inaugural WCF-Africa Global Summit will bring together more than 4,500 delegates from 70 countries, including heads of state and government, entrepreneurs, and innovators under the theme “Africa’s Global Future: Integrated, Innovative and Sustainable.”
According to data from the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, Kenya received 2.4 million foreign visitors and generated 350 billion shillings (about 2.7 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue from the tourism sector in 2024, making the industry a key source of foreign exchange earnings alongside tea, horticulture and diaspora remittances.
Ololtuaa said Kenya is seeking to increase the number of inbound Chinese tourists to over 150,000 by intensifying marketing efforts on Chinese-language digital marketing platforms such as Weibo, WeChat, and Douyin.
He revealed that in the first quarter of 2025, Kenya will host key opinion leaders from China to develop and share digital content that will promote Kenya on Chinese social media based on their firsthand experiences in Kenya.
