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Kenya's tourist arrivals grow thanks to US travel boom

Xinhua, December 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

The number of tourists arriving in Kenya between January and October reached 729,682, a 16.1-percent increase on the previous year, an official announced Friday.

Tourism Minister Najib Balala said the growth was boosted by international arrivals by both air and sea, noting that the American market has surpassed the traditional British market for Kenya.

"American market has grown by 16.4 percent, whereas the UK has declined by 4 percent," said Balala during the launch of the construction of a 3.5-million-U.S.-dollar cruise ship terminal at the port of Mombasa.

According to the minister, the number of Indian tourists stood at position three with 55,000 during the period, while Ugandans came in position four with 45,000.

Chinese arrivals ranked 5th and were followed by tourists from Germany.

Balala said by February next year, tourism stakeholders in Kenya will be meeting with over 3,000 U.S. travel agents in the capital Nairobi to continue marketing and selling Kenya as a tourism destination of choice. Endit