Ukrainians up tourist visits

Tourists from Ukraine at the Moi international Airport [PHOTO: Omondi Onyango]

Ukrainian airline, Bees Airways jetted into Mombasa on Monday with 180 tourists on board, barely 10 days after it brought in a similar number, signalling strengthening ties between the two nations.

The tourists will be in the country for 10 days as part of the deal signed between Mombasa and Ukrainian cities of Kiev and Odessa.

The deal dubbed a Sister-Sister-City Agreement shows that by September this year, the flights from Kiev will increase to three per week bringing in 400 tourists to Mombasa.

This is expected to boost tourism that currently reels under the effects of Covid-19, which has led to massive cancellations of bookings. Domestic travel has also been affected by the lockdown.

The flight was welcomed by Mombasa Deputy Governor William Kingi and the Ukrainian Honorary Consul Oleksii Sierkov.

"We have firmed up this deal... After every 10 days, we shall be having a flight from Kiev with tourists," Kingi said.