Tourism take hits Sh564 billion as arrivals more than double in four years
Key points
- Tourism revenue reached Sh564 billion in 2025/26, up from Sh224 billion four years earlier, the ministry said.
- Total tourism activity rose 51.8% from 5.21 million in 2021/22 to 7.91 million in 2025/26.
- International arrivals more than doubled to 2.76 million from 1.21 million; domestic bed nights went from 4 million to 5.15 million.
- CS Rebecca Miano credited extra flights, Magical Kenya marketing and MICE, culture, sport and coast products after the COVID slump.
Sh564 billion is the new ministry headline for 2025/26 — more than double the Sh224 billion booked four years earlier, The Standard reported from Tourism and Wildlife figures.
Total tourism activity, the ministry said, rose 51.8 per cent from 5.21 million in 2021/22 to 7.91 million in 2025/26. International arrivals more than doubled to 2.76 million from 1.21 million. Domestic bed nights climbed from four million to 5.15 million. Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano tied the rebound to more flight connections and Magical Kenya campaigns and said the money had reached “everyday Kenyans” through hospitality, transport and conservation jobs. The recovery story also leans on Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions, culture, sport and the coast — not only safari vans — after COVID emptied hotels. The ministry says it wants that mix to keep growing so communities keep a cut. Record receipts still need a jobs and wage annex; a doubled arrival number can sit beside casual contracts and empty midweek lodges.
A record year is not a living wage in Diani
Sh564 billion is a ministry total, not a housekeeper’s pay slip. Parliament should ask how much stayed in county economies versus airline and park-fee leakages.
Business desk: Business. Verified shilling and arrival series and Miano remarks from The Standard / ministry.
The ministry should publish the 2025/26 jobs estimate beside the revenue line. KNBS ought to reconcile bed-nights with hotel occupancy tax.
Coast and Maasai Mara operators should treat “record” as last year’s weather, not a 2026 booking guarantee.
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Based on The Standard reporting of ministry 2025/26 tourism figures. Series can be revised.
