Government announces growth in international arrivals

By Peter Ochieng

Government Spokesman, Isaac Mwaura has announced a significant growth in the tourism sector, with a reported increase in international arrivals by 18.42 percent.

Addressing the press on Thursday at KICC on strides made by President William Ruto's Kenya Kwanza administration after 16 months in office, Mwaura said the tourism sector has posted a significant growth in that period, as a result of increased travels and spending of tourists in the country.

The former nominated Senator attributed the growth to the visa-free entry policy for all foreign visitors.

“The number of days tourists spend in the country has increased from 10 to 11 days and the more they stay ,the more they keep spending since the expenditure in hotels has increased by 3 percent with regards to bed occupancy,” said Mwaura.

He added that increased meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibition travels where local and international travels hit the 10,000 mark with an increase of 2,151 conferences and over 14,000 delegates around the world, have also had a significant impact in the growth of the sector.

According to Mwaura, the government is also putting in measures to export labour force in a bid to tackle the challenge of unemployment in the country.

“The Ronald Ngala Utalii Training College will be opened in June as we seek to make the college a centre of excellence on export labour to countries such as Saudi Arabia that is building a new city and requires 35000 workers hence offering employment to millions of youths,” he added.

Despite the high cost of living occassioned by economic challenges, Mwaura assured Kenyans that the future is bright.

"In just sixteen months, Kenya Kwanza government has made remarkable strides in advancing key developmental agendas, setting a promising pace for a brighter future," he said.

In addition, he spoke about the ongoing Service Delivery Review Roadshow, auditing the success of the government in bettering the lives of Kenyans through service delivery and policy implementation under the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda ( BETA).