More Kenyans Travel to the UAE, Pakistan and Spain

United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been named the fastest growng destination for Kenyan travellers in the last 12 months.

An analysis carried out by Travelport - one of the world's leading travel commerce platforms -  showed that the UAE recorded the highest increase of flight bookings from Kenyan travellers within the period followed by Pakistan and Spain.

The number of Kenyans who booked flights to UAE through global distribution systems (GDS) from August 1st, 2017 to July 31st, 2018 grew by 675 compared to the same period the previous year, a 2 percent increase.

This is attributed to a high number of flights from Kenya.  The highest spike in bookings to the UAE was recorded in June, 2018, a 33 percent increase from June, 2017.

Bookings to Pakistan in the past 12 months rose by 631, a 47 percent increase, while those to Spain grew by 564, up 26 percent in the same period the earlier year.

“The data suggests the volume of overall bookings made in Kenya to international destinations has largely remained steady over the last 12 months. What’s interesting, however, is that the countries that have experienced growth, have not been those with large booking volumes like India (first), Uganda (third) and China (seventh). Instead, it’s come from trips to countries like Pakistan and Spain, which have lower volumes. This highlights the power of analytics tools as they enable travel agents and airlines to identify trends like this in real-time and respond accordingly. While the growth volumes seen here aren’t high, collectively they offer an opportunity for travel companies,"Guido Verweij, Travelport’s Regional Managing Director for Africa, said.

Verweij also attributes the rise of bookings to the UAE to the recently opened Dubai Visa Processing Centre in Nairobi.

Other countries that recorded an increase in Kenyan travellers include Egypt (492), Nigeria (462), Malaysia (449), Zimbabwe (435), Turkey (432), Canada (379) and Ivory Coast (375).