South Africa is stepping up its tourism push in Kenya after arrivals from the country increased by 11.3 per cent in the first seven months of 2026.
South Africa will be represented by 20 tourism businesses, alongside the South African National Convention Bureau, at the 16th Magical Kenya Travel Expo (MKTE), which runs from October 6 to 8 in Nairobi. This is up from 17 participants at last year’s exhibition.
“Kenya is showing positive year-to-date growth, and that creates a real opportunity for our tourism businesses,” said Evelyn Mahlaba, Regional General Manager: Africa at South African Tourism.
Between January and July 2026, South Africa received 32,067 tourists from Kenya, up 11.3 per cent from the same period in 2025.
Across Africa, arrivals reached 5.2 million during the seven months, an increase of 14.3 per cent, while total international arrivals rose 12.4 per cent to 6.58 million.
Mahlaba said the focus at the expo would be on building business opportunities for tourism enterprises, particularly smaller businesses seeking access to regional buyers.
Kenya is an important East African source market for South Africa, with direct air connectivity and established relationships between travel industry players in the two countries.
Fourteen of the 20 participating South African businesses are small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), accounting for 70 per cent of the delegation. This is up from 10 SMMEs that participated in 2025.
The businesses will meet travel agents, tour operators, MICE buyers and other tourism industry players during the expo.
South African Tourism will also host a networking dinner on October 7 for about 100 travel trade, MICE and corporate travel stakeholders.
Participating South African tourism businesses will hold further engagements with travel agents in Nairobi on October 9, a day after the expo ends.
South Africa’s tourism sector has also received recognition at the 2026 World Travel Awards, with destinations and tourism businesses receiving 19 Africa-wide honours. The awards included recognition for Cape Town, Durban ICC and FlySafair.
Africa remains a key source of international tourists to South Africa.
“Africa already accounts for the majority of South Africa’s international tourist arrivals, but there is still significant room to grow travel between African markets,” Mahlaba said.
“Improving access, strengthening trade partnerships and making more South African tourism products easy to package and book are central to unlocking that opportunity.”
The South African delegation is at Stand D11 at Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi during the October 6-8 expo.
