• Kenya partners with Visa to boost tourism via data, payments
• Country saw 2.4M international visitors in 2024, up 15%
• Sector forecast to hit $9.2B GDP contribution, 1.7M jobs in 2025

The Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) announced last week that it has partnered with Visa to develop marketing campaigns, facilitate payment accessibility, and encourage both cross-border and domestic tourist spending. As part of the partnership, Visa will provide its Government Insights Hub, an analytics platform that identifies travel patterns, peak seasons, regional preferences, and consumer behavior, according to initial details reported by Reuters.

This collaboration highlights Nairobi's intent to boost its tourism sector's competitiveness through data and digital payments. By better targeting visitors and streamlining transactions, authorities hope to increase the economic benefits of an already strategic sector. According to Rebecca Miano, Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, the country welcomed 2.4 million international visitors in 2024, a 15% year-on-year increase, bringing the total with domestic tourists to 7.5 million.

Improving the traveler experience is a central focus of public policy. In March 2025, the government had already announced measures to simplify the process at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta Airport, including eliminating electronic travel authorization for African nationals and increasing customs allowances. In May, the KTB launched a global campaign focused on adventure tourism to boost local employment.

The partnership with Visa appears to be part of the same strategy to stimulate a sector where Kenya wants to maintain its regional leadership amid increasing competition from Tanzania and Uganda. The government has set a goal of attracting 5 million international visitors and 5 million domestic tourists by 2027.

It remains to be seen if leveraging consumer data can truly redirect tourist flows to new domestic destinations, if local operators will be sufficiently integrated into this digital shift, or if the alliance between international marketing and financial inclusion will produce the expected revenue gains.

According to forecasts published in June by the World Travel & Tourism Council, Kenya's travel and tourism sector is expected to generate 1.2 trillion shillings (about $9.2 billion) for the national economy in 2025, accounting for about 7% of GDP, and create 1.7 million jobs. By comparison, in 2022, during a post-pandemic recovery, Kenya's tourism revenue climbed 83% to 268 billion shillings ($2.13 billion).

Louis-Nino Kansoun