Nairobi — The Ministry of Tourism is devising a new strategy to increase international tourist arrivals to five million by 2027.

It seeks to achieve this through a Tembea Kenya, which will soon be launched, to boost the number from the current about 2 million arrivals yearly.

Tourism Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano spoke while hosting tourism players at an event in Nairobi yesterday.

"This happens mainly through participation in local and international events, campaigns, policy advocacy, and in creating innovative tourism products and experiences," Miano said.

"During my interaction with the tourism sector stakeholders this afternoon, I made a commitment to build strong linkages with the private sector and to make the tourism industry the number one contributor of foreign exchange earnings and job creation," she said.

In the first half of this year, Kenya generated 142.5 billion shillings in tourism revenue during the first, assisted by a significant rise in visitor numbers, according to the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB).

This represents an increase from 1.06 billion dollars in the same period last year, the KTB reported.

The KTB said that Kenya welcomed 1.03 million international visitors, marking a 21.3 percent increase from 847,810 visitors during the same period in 2023.

Domestic tourism also saw growth, with 2.25 million bed nights recorded, about a 10 percent increase from 2.06 million bed nights in the previous year.