Nairobi — The Ministry of Interior has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Tourism aimed at enhancing tourists' security.
The agreement was signed by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki and her Tourism docket counterpart Rebecca Miano .
Interior CS Kithure Kindiki noted that the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two ministries will further enhance cooperation with the National Police Service (NPS) to promote a positive travel experience for both domestic and international tourists.
He added that this will help expand the sector, and unlock more job opportunities in the country.
"To realize this target, the Ministry of Interior has signed an MoU with the Ministry of Tourism to enhance cooperation with the National Police Service (NPS)," he said.
CS Kindiki revealed that the agreement will provide the necessary resources and logistical support needed to the Tourism Police Unit (TPU) through the Tourism fund to safeguard the security and well-being of local and foreign visitors.
He stated that the MoU will help increase the annual foreign tourist arrivals from the current 2 million to 5 million by 2027, and to 10 million by 2032.
The signing of the MoU was witnessed by Principal Secretaries Raymond Omollo(Interior security and National Administration and John Ololtuua (Tourism).
Other senior government officials present were Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, and Kenya Police Service Deputy Inspector General Eliud Lagat.
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The Ministry of Tourism is devising a new strategy to increase international tourist arrivals 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 said Kenya generated Sh 142.5 billion in tourism revenue during the first half of this year.
She revealed that this was attributed to a significant rise in visitor numbers, according to the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB).
"During my interaction with the tourism sector stakeholders, 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," stated Miano.
According to KTB Kenya welcomed 1.03 million international visitors, marking a 21.3 percent increase from 847,810 visitors received 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.
