Tourism on the Kenyan coast is back to 2019 levels, with 92 percent occupancy on average for the days from December 26 to today, while from tomorrow for a week it drops but slightly, with the first international returns and many Kenyans resuming work in Nairobi. Added to these are the many employees of international organizations (United Nations and its branches first and foremost) who have chosen locations such as Watamu and Diani (the most booked) for their vacations especially with families.
Also this year there is a clear distinction between the types of tourism, which should give the marketing solons pause and be the basis for planning communication in 2023, but also the institutions in targeting what can be the "target audience" of each individual location.
The differentiation of the various destinations in fact had already been the banner of the last coastal tourism promotion campaign by trade associations, which had assigned "labels" to each resort, from Diani to Lamu, and consequently a certain type of guests to chase and activities to develop. As far as international tourism is concerned, the 2022/2023 holidays are decreeing the growth of Watamu as a top destination (we estimated 150 thousand presences over the two-week period), while Diani follows closely (around 100 thousand). In third place comes Lamu, despite the advice of many foreign diplomatic representations, including the Italian one.
"This year we received more than 30,000 domestic and international tourists." Said Lamu Tourism Association (LTA) executive director Ghalib Alwy.
Malindi, on the other hand, is confirmed to be mainly a destination for people of a certain age, couples who prefer relaxation and repeaters. Kilifi continues its holiday development as an emerging resort, much loved by British, both tourists and residents or Kenyan citizens. On the other hand, as far as purely local tourism is concerned, Mombasa with its neighboring resorts (Nyali and Bamburi where President William Ruto was also on vacation with a good number of national politicians) is always unbeatable, both because of the proposals of large hotels and residences that have been cultivating Kenyan clients and satisfying their demands for years, and because of the convenience of several daily flights over Mombasa's Moi Airport and three train rides from the capital at this time. In four and a half hours and with 4,000 shillings a Nairobi citizen is on a beach vacation, if only for a weekend.
Beyond the cold numbers that provide relief in the heavy, almost unreal heat of these days, tourism businesses are wondering how long the long wave of European tourism, which in early 2020, just before the pandemic cataclysm, had pleased the entire industry, will last. For now, agencies and operators report good demand and several bookings through the end of January. Then it will be seen whether we can write off 2023 as the real year of recovery. This country, not only for tourism, really needs it.