- Title: Kenya loses 80 bln shillings in tourism revenue due to coronavirus
- Date: 29th June 2020
- Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (JUNE 29, 2020) (REUTERS) ***WARNING:CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF KENYAN MINISTER OF TOURISM NAJIB BALALA GREETING MINISTER AND RECEIVING TOURISM REPORT BALALA ADDRESSING JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) KENYAN MINISTER OF TOURISM, NAJIB BALALA, SAYING: "We lost almost 80 billion Kenya Shillings, so that is almost 0.8 ...100 million. So we lost almost 50% of our revenue of 1.6 billion, so the first half we got it and the second half is literally as good as zero. So we have a major problem we lost 50% of our revenue, for 2020-2021 which is starting on the 1st of July we are only going to get back less than 30%." MOMBASA, KENYA (FILE - MARCH 19, 2020) (REUTERS) EMPTY POOL AT HOTEL VARIOUS OF EMPTY SUN LOUNGERS VARIOUS OF EMPTY BEACH VARIOUS OF COCONUT TREES ON EMPTY BEACH NAIROBI, KENYA (JUNE 29, 2020) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) KENYAN MINISTER OF TOURISM, NAJIB BALALA, SAYING: "People employed in the tourism sector are above two million, but you know now we have a lockdown and so the entire tourism sector is out of business at the moment. So there are major job losses, but we have been assured immediately we start opening even the people who have been sent home on redundancy, the minute the economy starts picking up they will be the first people to be given the priority to come back. Because they are already skilled and trained." NAIROBI, KENYA (RECENT - JUNE 11, 2020) (REUTERS) AEROPLANES PARKED AT NAIROBI'S WILSON AIRPORT AEROPLANES PARKED / AEROPLANE TAXIING ON THE RUNWAY NAIROBI, KENYA (JUNE 29, 2020) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) KENYAN MINISTER OF TOURISM, NAJIB BALALA, SAYING: "From the 6th of July, the country will open up. Definitely we know there will be some international tourism coming in December, because of the holidays. But proper international recovery will be in the summer 2021. That is our projection so far." BALALA ON THE SCREEN OF A CAMERA BALALA ENTERING ROOM AND TAKING SEAT
- Embargoed: 13th July 2020 15:03
- Keywords: Kenya Kenyan minister of tourism Najib Balala coronavirus loss in tourism revenue tourism
- Location: NAIROBI, MOMBASA AND TSAVO, KENYA
- City: NAIROBI, MOMBASA AND TSAVO, KENYA
- Country: Kenya
- Topics: Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA002CKF91S7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Kenya has lost 80 billion shillings ($751.88 million) so far in revenue from its tourism sector, about half of last year's total, due to the coronavirus crisis, its tourism minister said on Monday (June 29).
The sector is one of the leading sources of foreign exchange and it earned 163.56 billion shillings ($1.54 billion) last year, which the tourism ministry initially expected to grow by 1% this year.
Najib Balala, the minister of tourism, said that things will get worse before they can improve.
Tourism, from the white sandy beaches of the Indian Ocean to the Maasai Mara wildlife reserve, contributes 10% of Kenya's annual economic output and employs more than million people.
Kenya, which so far has confirmed more than 6,000 cases of the disease, shut its airspace to commercial flights in March. It has also banned movement into and out of the capital Nairobi and the coastal resort city of Mombasa.
The government has ordered all bars and nightclubs to be closed and it has imposed a daily, nighttime curfew to curb the spread of the virus.
Kenya has a variety of products, from beach holidays at the coast to safaris in its various game parks, but it attracts fewer visitors than African competitors like South Africa due to frequent political upheavals and insurgent attacks.
Between 2012 and 2015, visitor numbers and tourism earnings fell after a spate of attacks claimed by Somalia's al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, which wants Nairobi to pull its troops out of Somalia.
A reduction in attacks in the years that followed allowed the sector to rebound.
(Production: Jackson Njehia, Edwin Waita) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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