International tourists have grown by six per cent to 598 million all around the globe in the first six months of this year, which is the strongest since the last seven years.
The latest UNWTO Tourism Barometer showed that the tourist numbers were 36 million more than in the same period in 2016.
The first half of the year usually accounts for about 46 per cent of total annual international arrivals. The second half of the year, longer by three days, and including the Northern Hemisphere high season months of July and August usually has more tourists.
UNWTO secretary-general Taleb Rifai said that the first half of the year has shown healthy growth in an increasingly dynamic and resilient tourism market. Some of the destinations has shown strong recovery given the security challenges last year.
The first-half of the year results, were underpinned by robust growth in many destinations and a continuation of the recovery in those that suffered declines in previous years. Of UNWTO regions, growth was strongest in the Middle East at nine per cent, Europe and Africa at eight per cent, Asia and Pacific at six per cent and Americas at three per cent.
Kenya Tourism Board locally showed that tourist numbers might hit the 1.5 million mark this year, thanks to the huge rise in the international arrivals. The international visit last year to Kenya increased by 16.7 per cent to 877,602 up from 752,073 arrivals in 2015.
