Kenya Anchors Jamhuri Week Celebrations on Local Tourism

By Kepher Otieno - Reporter

Kenya, 9 December 2025 - Kenya’s government is sharpening its focus on the domestic market as it prepares to anchor this year’s Jamhuri Week celebrations on local tourism.

The shift underscores a broader policy recalibration aimed at insulating the sector from global shocks while sustaining its post-pandemic rebound.

Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano, speaking at the opening of the week-long celebrations in Nairobi, framed domestic travellers as the backbone of the industry’s recovery. She said the ministry will use the Jamhuri Week platform to showcase attractions countrywide and promote conservation awareness—an approach designed to cultivate long-term demand among Kenyan households.

According to Miano, domestic tourism has not only recovered but strengthened since the pandemic slump.

Hotel bed-nights by Kenyan residents at the Coast rose 11.8% to 2.47 million, while total resident bed-nights hit 4.91 million in 2024.

The figures, she argued, reflect a more resilient sector buoyed by consistent local spending rather than the historical overreliance on international arrivals.

Analysts say the government’s emphasis on domestic tourism aligns with global trends, where countries have shifted to building robust internal markets amid geopolitical uncertainties, volatile airfares, and changing traveller preferences. For Kenya, which faced currency fluctuations and softened European demand earlier in the year, sustained local travel could offer a vital buffer.

A core feature of the government’s strategy is leveraging the influence of younger, tech-savvy travellers.

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Miano noted that Gen Z and millennial content creators have become unofficial brand ambassadors, often showcasing Kenyan destinations to millions of online followers. Their digital contributions, she said, feed directly into location-based demand and help elevate lesser-known attractions.

Technology is also reshaping the sector’s operational backbone. According to Miano, digitisation—from online park ticketing systems to data-driven visitor management—is improving customer experiences while unlocking new revenue streams. The push dovetails with Kenya’s broader digital transformation agenda, which aims to modernise public services and catalyse economic growth.

As part of the Jamhuri Week activities, the Cabinet Secretary encouraged Kenyans to visit the renovated Kenyatta International Convention Centre. The iconic facility, a pillar of the country’s meetings and conferencing economy, has been upgraded to support exhibitions, destination marketing, and MICE-related tourism—an increasingly competitive segment Kenya is vying to dominate in the region.

Policy signals are also expected to feature prominently this week. Miano disclosed that President William Ruto is set to issue new tourism sector directives, which industry players will be watching closely for clues on regulatory reform, investment incentives, and conservation financing.

Early indicators suggest the timing of the campaign is favourable. Spot checks show the Coast region is experiencing surging domestic arrivals, with Mombasa hotels fully booked. Park visitation, according to ministry data, has climbed 43 percent, pointing to a nationwide appetite for travel. The momentum presents an opportunity for the government to convert seasonal enthusiasm into sustained year-round demand.

Kenya will mark Jamhuri Day 2025 on Friday under the theme “Tourism, Wildlife, and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE)”—a framing that mirrors the government’s ambition to position the sector as a diversified economic engine rather than a seasonal foreign-exchange earner.

If the Jamhuri Week campaign succeeds, policymakers hope it will reinforce domestic tourism as a stable pillar of the economy, deepen conservation awareness, and help propel Kenya toward its target of becoming a regional hub for both leisure and business travel.