NAIROBI, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Kenya plans to attract low-cost airlines in order to increase the number of international tourists visiting the country, a senior government official said on Tuesday.
Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism Najib Balala told a media briefing in Nairobi that an increasing number of tourists are using low-cost airlines.
"We are therefore developing an aviation strategy for the tourism sector that will offer incentives for low-cost airlines to begin flying into Kenya," Balala said during the Seventh Edition of the Annual Magical Kenya Travel Expo.
The three-day event will showcase Kenya's tourism destinations to overseas travel agencies. Tourism promotion agencies from Tanzania, Rwanda, and Seychelles were also represented in the conference.
The east African nation had previously set aside 12 million U.S. dollars to promote chartered air travel.
"However, charter tourism is facing a lot of challenges due to the changing patterns of international holiday makers who are seeking to spend less on vacations," Balala said.
Kenya already has a number of budget airlines operating in the country, which has helped expand the domestic tourism sector.
Domestic low-cost airlines have contributed to pushing earnings of the local tourism sector to account for over 52 percent of the industry, Balala said.
He said Kenya needs to replicate the successful model of low-cost airlines to attract more foreign tourists.
The country is planning to invest more in domestic tourism because it's more resilient as compared to international travelers, he said.
According to the ministry of tourism, Kenya recorded 1.3 million international arrivals in 2016.
Balala noted that despite a 10 percent increase in tourist arrivals in the first eight months of 2017, overall tourist arrivals the whole year will likely fall as compared to last year due to the prevailing political uncertainty caused by a re-run of the presidential polls, now scheduled for Oct. 26.
