By Apolinari Tairo
Published June 27, 2017

David Scowsill calls on governments "to continue to focus on the economic and social benefits of Travel & Tourism, and to work together with the private sector to combat some of the challenges we face."Kenya’s travel and tourism sector is expected to grow at the rate of 6% annually over the next decade.

World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) says that the economic value of the business and leisure travel sector accounts for 10% of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is almost the same size as Kenya’s banking sector.

While travel and tourism directly supports employment nearly three times as many jobs as the banking sector and more than twice as many jobs as the financial services sector in the country, more than 1.1 million direct, indirect, and induced jobs were supported by the sector in 2016, or 9.2% of the country’s total employment.

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“These figures show that the tourism sector is not only a major engine to economic growth in Kenya, but it is also a creator of jobs,” says David Scowsill, the outgoing President and Chief Executive Officer of WTTC. “In Kenya, as in other countries, travel and tourism provides jobs across all levels of society and from the most remote rural areas to the busiest city centre.”

A report by WTTC indicates that Kenya will need another 500,000 people to serve in the travel and tourism sector over the next 10 years.

“In order for our sector to continue to boost the economy and livelihoods in Kenya, it is important to address the anticipated talent shortage,” Scowsill says. “We depend on quality people to deliver a quality product to our customers.”

Scowsill says right policies, programmes and partnerships need to be put into place to ensure that Kenya’s workforce of the future knows about the opportunities in the industry.

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“Kenya is a beautiful country with a great tourism product, and I call on the Kenyan government to continue to invest in the travel and tourism sector to foster the growth and further explore the great socio-economic benefits our sector has to offer,” Scowsill says.

International Arrivals area at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International AirportKenya’s aviation sector, according to a study by International Air Transport Association (IATA), supports up to 620,000 direct and indirect jobs and generates nearly US$3.2 billion to Kenya’s economy, or 5.1% of the country’s GDP.

These findings are among the highlights of the “Importance of Air Transport to Kenya” study that was conducted by Oxford Economics on behalf of IATA.

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“The study confirms the vital role that air transport plays in facilitating more than US$10 billion in exports, some US$4.4 billion in foreign direct investment, and around US$800,000 in inbound leisure and business tourism for Kenya,” says Muhammad Albakri, IATA’s regional vice president for the Middle East and Africa. “By adopting policies that ensure a competitive operating environment for the airlines, Kenya could reap even greater dividends from aviation.”

How to get toTerminal 2 at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International AirportAbout 130,000 aircraft land and take off from one of Kenya’s five main airports every year. The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is the key gateway and handled more than 5.8 million passengers in 2014.

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While Kenya’s air transport infrastructure ranks highly among African states, it is important that heavy fees, taxes, and charges do not hold aviation back,” Albakri says. “We are very encouraged by the news that the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) has embarked on a study to review airport charges downwards.”

An eTurboNews Article