The Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) has reacted after Manchester City midfielder Kavin Phillips declared his love for Kenya as his preferred tourist destination.
In a statement, asked the player, who is on loan at West Ham, to tag along with his other teammates when he decides to visit the country.
"Hey Kavin Phillips, come kick it in Kenya again sometime soon and bring the whole West Ham team with you!" KTB pleaded.
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Phillips' love for Kenya
Phillips moved to West Ham United on loan from Man City in the January transfer window. During his unveiling, he was asked 11 quick-fire questions, one of them being his favourite holiday destination.
"What is your favourite holiday destination?" the interviewer asked.
Without hesitation, Phillips said, "Kenya".
According to the Ministry of Tourism, in 2022, Kenya's international tourist arrivals were 1,483,752 which represents a 70.45 per cent increase as compared to 2021 arrivals of 870,465.
The inbound receipts grew up to Ksh268.09 billion compared to Ksh146.51 billion in 2021 which is a growth of 83 per cent.
Tourists coming to Kenya on holiday led at 36.6 per cent followed by those visiting friends and family at 27.8 per cent of the total.
Visitors on business and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) took third position with 27.2 per cent of the total visitation.
According to the Annual Tourism Sector Performance Report released in February 2023, flight landings in Kenya’s airports increased by 38 per cent to 62,000 in 2022 which was only 13 per cent shy of the pre-Covid-19 performance.
The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) registered a flight landings growth of 44 per cent, Moi International Airport Mombasa (MIA) registered a growth of 33 per cent, and Kisumu International Airport by 31 per cent.
The government is yet to release the report for 2023.
