After a year of challenges, tourism is on the rebound

The year 2014 started out as a challenging one for Kenyan tourism but ended with a ray of hope, further underlining the country’s resilience as a destination.

Security remained a major concern.

As such, Kenya was on the receiving end of travel advisories from some of our key source markets.

While some of the advisories were general, others were specific to certain parts of the country, notably the Coast, which is the centerpiece of our beach tourism product.

To its credit, the government, both at the national and county levels, reacted with requisite speed and responded adequately to the challenge of providing security at our key tourism sites, whenever credible threats were identified.

As a result of these concerted efforts, spearheaded by various detachments of our security agencies, tourists have had a chance to enjoy the unmatched attractions that our beautiful country offers.

Most significantly, some of the travel advisories were revised.

As the Kenya Tourism Board, we have continually responded by consistently informing our source markets of what is happening in the country — mainly about measures being taken to ensure they are safe and also highlighting tourist areas that are unaffected.

Kenya offers a wide range of products and activities many of which were not in the proximity of the affected areas.

As a country, we have a lot to offer including the national parks and reserves, the Rift Valley, the Western Circuit, just to mention a few.

Government support has also been seen in the improvement and expansion of travel infrastructure in the country.

The new Terminal 4 at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, for instance, has significantly increased the airport’s passenger capacity and ability to offer international facilities and services.