Kenya’s Casinos recovers as tourism sector reopens

Content Team July 15, 2020

SiGMA news

Kenya’s Casinos on the path to recovery as tourism sector reopens on August 1st

The gambling industry in Kenya generates about 2.3 billion in revenue.

Kenya is one of the top casino markets among the six African jurisdictions considered relevant in the gambling industry over the years. Kenya’s casino scene has some of the most alluring casino outlets you could find in East Africa, such as Casino Malindi, Florida Casino, Golden key Casino, Bollywood Casino, InterContinental Hotel Nairobi Casino, and Safari Park Hotel and many more.

Kenya Kenya is also notorious for East Africa’s tourist hub as it boasts one of the top hospitality and possesses many tourist attraction sites. Kenya is one of the advanced economies with plenty of technical innovation and start-ups in East Africa.

However, it has been a dry four months for the country’s casinos and ailing economy since the government has imposed lockdown restrictions and shut down all non-essential businesses due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has devastated the country’s tourism industry.

According to Reuters, Kenya’s tourism sector contributes 60% of the country’s GDP culminated in a rise in its foreign earnings from the tourism sector by 3.9 percent last year to 163.56 billion Shillings ($1.61 billion).

The Minister said Kenya has been listed among the 80 global destinations certified and authorised to use the () World Travel and Tourism Council “Safe Travel Stamp” and Kenya’s tourism marketing brand, the magical Kenya logo amid Covid-19 crisis.

Nevertheless, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced in a televised address the reopening of the country’s international flights on August 1 and lifting of internal travel restrictions scheduled to restart today, July 15. This benefits casino operators since this sector is highly dependent on tourism to survive.

‘In the next 21 days we shall study patterns of interactions and the spread of the disease. Any trends that signal a worsening of the pandemic, we will have no choice but to return to lockdown,’ Kenyatta said.

According to the statement by Tourism Minister Najib Balala, in 2019, the country recorded over 2 million tourists. With that said, the Kenya’s tourism sector reopening could as a result help revive the casino industry as most of the casino’s biggest customer are tourists.