Terrorism takes toll on Kenya's tourism

NAIROBI - Kenya's tourism, the country's key contributor to its economy, has been experiencing a setback with the number of tourists has been on continuous decline this year, as terrorists continue to pose threats to the east African nation and the country readies for elections.

The number of visitors arriving through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and Moi International Airport (MIA) fell by 16.8 percent from 95,633 in March to 79,544 in April, said a report titled Leading Economic Indicators from Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) received on Thursday.

The number of visitors arriving in Kenya through its main airports has been falling since the beginning of this year, it said, citing January's figure at 111,574, and February's at 105, 041.

The numbers are likely to drop further as terrorists continue to carry out attacks in the east African nation.

The US, one of the main source of tourists for Kenya, last week warned its citizens against travelling to Mombasa, Kenya's main tourist city, noting terrorists were planning to carry out attacks. Grenade attacks occurred one day after the warning at a club in the coastal city, killing at least three people.

Similarly, the number of passengers who embarked at JKIA also dropped during the period under review. The number of passengers who embarked at JKIA decreased by 1.8 percent from 176,046 persons in March this year to 172,882 in April, said the economic analysis.

Europe led in the number of people who left through the airport which stood at 39,058 in April. It was followed by Africa, which recorded 37,096 passengers and Asia with 26,757.

The report also released some other key sectors of the Kenya's economy, which sent mixed signals.

Kenya's international trade decreased by 15.5 percent from March to 17 billion U.S. dollars in April, the report said, adding exports declined by 9.7 percent while imports fell by 17.5 percent.

During the months under review, exports of coffee decreased by 8.8 percent from 5,068.9 tonnes in March to 4,624.5 in April. The coffee value declined by 7.1 percent from $30.3 billion to $28.4 billion, the report said.

Tea exports declined by 14.3 percent from 31,280.3 tonnes in March to 26,816.3 tonnes in April. Its value stood at 80.4 billion dollars in April, said the report.

The statistics bureau indicated that in the energy sector, Kenya stepped up electricity generation between April and May.

Total electricity generation increased from 600.3 million Kilowatts per hour (KWh) in April to 630.3 million KWh in May. However, domestic consumption of electricity declined by 2.7 percent from 527.4 million KWh to 513.2 million KWh in the period under review, said the report.

Under manufacturing, building and construction sector, cement output increased by 1.4 percent from 339,456 tonnes in April to 344,080 tonnes in May.

The sector continued to experience a boom with data showing that in the capital, Nairobi City Council received over 16,372 plans for both residential and non-residential plans for approval during the period under review.

The report noted that between April and May, broad money supply, a key indicator for monetary policy formulation, expanded from 18. 3 billion dollars in April to 18.6 in May. The expansion was mainly attributed to slow uptake of government securities, whose interest rate has dropped to about 11 percent for Treasury bills and bonds.

During the period, KNBS noted, the development in the money sector led to the depreciation of the Kenya Shilling against most worlds' major currencies.

Central Bank of Kenya has retained its bench-mark lending rate at 18 percent to stabilize the local currency and control inflation.