(Ecofin Agency) - Over the past five months, Kenya lost about 2.5 million jobs in the tourism sector due to the coronavirus and its impact on the economy.

Najib Balala (pictured), the tourism minister, said this drastic loss in jobs is the result of the restriction measures deployed by governments around the world to control the propagation of the pandemic. These have led to a decline in both tourist numbers and revenues. Faced with this situation, many hotels and restaurants have had to close their doors and lay off many workers.

“The tourism sector has been hit hard […] Our facilities have been in a deplorable state making them difficult to be used, we need to refurbish them to continue providing services,” Balala said.

The government has approved the disbursement of over $30 million to assist affected hotels and tourism establishments. The authorities hope that this investment will enable the sector to rebound and return to its pre-Covid-19 level in the coming months.

As a reminder, tourism contributes 10% to Kenya's gross domestic product (GDP).

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou