How Mobile Technology and Apps are Changing and Disrupting Local Tourism in Kenya

As the independent travel rose with time, tour operators in Kenya really suffered. But today, they are embracing mobile apps and other online sources just to remain in the competition. It is a fact that the Internet caused the death of numerous travel agents in the country.

The ones that survived were forced to adapt to changing environments and start embracing the changes brought in by the Internet. All of them have now introduced online book. Kenya is one of the African countries that have shown a great uptake in this new trend. Local tourists are now embracing the idea of booking travels online even more. Long weekends and sporting events are definitely good examples of this. 

About five years ago, online bookings hit close to 65%, as the travel agency bookings dropped to nearly 1/5th. By 2019, mobile bookings rose to about 45% from 31%. 60% of all travel bookings in Kenya are undertaken online while the rest is divided among the other traditional methods of booking. The changing environment in the travel and hospitality market has forced airlines, hotels to be more innovative and adopt technology-driven techniques to remain relevant, or even be ahead of the games, based on the nature of the market. 

One hotel in Kenya has come up with a new technology to remain ahead in the game. It has created a mobile system where guests can communicate with its front desk assistants through mobile messaging applications such as WhatsApp. They can do this before or during their stay.