Mombasa hotels bank on domestic tourism to boost business

Hotels in Mombasa are expected to enjoy booming business this month bolstered by domestic tourism.

Since last month, hotels have been relying on business from conferences but this month they expect more local bookings due to school holidays and the Mombasa International Show which begins on August 24.

On the other hand, international tourist arrivals are still very low in Mombasa despite the high season with most hotels recording between six and 20 per cent of foreign guests.

Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort general manager Raj Jadhav, said the hotel was currently busy with an occupancy of 70 per cent thanks to locals on holidays and those attending conferences.

The hotel, he added, had only eight per cent of international guests but the number of foreign guests is expected to soar this week following a boost from the Chinese market.

“We thank Kenyans for supporting us as most of our guests have been largely from the domestic market,” he said.

Mr Jadhav added that he expected occupancy to jump to 80 per cent from next week owing to school holidays and the five-day Mombasa show.

Heritage Hotels chief executive officer Mohamed Hersi said the hotel had occupancy of 60 per cent with majority being locals.

International guest numbers, he added, were below 20 per cent, adding that bookings are expected to rise from November and December.

Severin Sea Lodge resident manager James Owiti said the hotel had occupancy of 50 per cent with international guests standing at 10 per cent.

“In the coming weeks, we expect business to improve with families coming for holidays, taking advantage of the schools’ break,” he said.

From the international market, he said the number of tourist arrivals was low as majority of the visitors, who arrive at Moi International Airport, Mombasa, were on transit to Zanzibar.

In Diani, Swahili Beach Resort general manager Jeff Mukolwe said the hotel had 60 per cent occupancy.

He added that 35 per cent of the guests were from Europe while others were from Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania.

As a result of school holidays, he said, the hotel expects guest numbers to hit 70 per cent due to rise in domestic bookings.

Leopard Beach Resort general manager Mohamed Omar said the hotel had occupancy of 50 per cent with majority being locals.

He added that he expects international guests to increase during the peak period of November and December.

In Watamu, Garoda Beach Resort resident manager Daniel Mwita said the hotel had occupancy of 38 per cent with 32 per cent being guests from Europe.

The hotelier added that he expects guests to increase to more than 50 per cent from next week due to boost of tourist arrivals from Italy.

In Malindi, Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers Malindi and Watamu chairman Philip Chai said business was still low due to few charter flights from Italy.

He explained that tourism was as well dealt a blow early this month when national carrier Kenya Airways pulled out of the Nairobi-Malindi route.

“At the moment, tourism is yet to improve as the number of international tourists coming to Malindi is very low,” he said.