Kenya’s tourism competitive edge in AI age

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

The way travellers discover and decide on their next destination is changing fundamentally. Not long ago, the journey began with a travel agent, a brochure or a recommendation from friends and family.

Then the internet transformed travel, with visitors turning to search engines, online booking platforms and social media to discover destinations, compare experiences and make decisions.

Today, we are entering another major shift, Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming part of the traveller’s decision-making process.

Rather than searching through dozens of websites, travellers can simply ask an AI tool where they should go, what they should experience and how they should plan their journey. Technology is moving from helping travellers find information to actively influencing the choices they make.

This shift is also changing how the tourism industry operates, according to PwC's AI at the Heart of Tourism and Hospitality – Powering Personalisation, Efficiency and Growth report, tourism and hospitality leaders have moved beyond exploring AI and are now piloting practical applications, signalling a decisive shift from experimentation to implementation.

In Saudi Arabia for instance, AI is central to its Vision 2030, supporting the country's ambition of welcoming 150 million annual visitors and increasing tourism's contribution to GDP from three percent to 10 percent.

Consumer behaviour is evolving just as rapidly, according to the 2026 AI in Travel & Tourism CareerTrainer Report, 62 percent of travellers now use AI-enabled tools, 58 percent say AI recommendations improve trip planning, while 73 percent expect personalised travel experiences based on their data.

The report also found that 94 percent of tourism and hospitality leaders across the region are already experimenting with or implementing AI solutions, highlighting how quickly the technology is becoming mainstream.

Additionally, according to Adobe's Digital Data Index and Marriott Bonvoy's Ticket to Travel report, AI referrals to travel sites surged by 194 percent year-on-year in 2026, while almost half of travellers worldwide now use generative AI tools to plan trips, up sharply from 22 per cent just three years earlier.

This shift has profound implications for tourism; the question is no longer simply whether a destination can be found online. It is whether it is visible, relevant and compelling enough to be recommended by the technologies increasingly shaping how travellers discover the world.

In 2025, Kenya welcomed 7.9 million tourists, comprising 2.7 million international visitors and 5.2 million domestic travellers, generating close to Sh500 billion in earnings. International arrivals grew by 9 percent, more than double the global average growth rate of 4 percent recorded that year.

These figures show that the current model, built on strong marketing, visa reforms and improved connectivity, is working. The question now is whether that momentum can be sustained and accelerated by a stronger digital foundation.

Regional destinations such as Morocco, Rwanda, Egypt and South Africa are investing heavily in smart tourism systems. Rwanda's digital travel platforms have streamlined border processes, while Egypt's Grand Egyptian Museum uses digital quotas and AI tracking to manage crowds.

Digital transformation is not simply a modest upgrade, it is a structural shift requiring destinations to re-engineer how they gather data, understand visitor behaviour, manage natural assets and market themselves with precision.

Kenya has already taken important steps, the electronic travel authorisation simplified entry at a policy level, while the partnerships provide tools to study visitor flows, seasonal peaks and regional spending patterns through analytics.

The harder task is extending digital capability beyond large hotels, airlines and tour operators to community conservancies, small lodges, cultural centres and independent guides who shape much of the visitor experience.

If digital transformation only strengthens businesses with capital and technical capacity, it risks widening the gap between large tourism enterprises and the small businesses that sustain rural and coastal economies.

AI can help Kenya market its wildlife corridors, beaches and cultural sites to travellers most likely to value them, easing pressure on fragile ecosystems while raising visitor value. Digital payments, smarter mobility and data analytics can further smooth the journey and help manage seasonal peaks in the destination’s attractions

These questions will form part of the conversation at the Magical Kenya Travel Expo in Nairobi this October, where governments, technology innovators, investors and the travel trade will examine how digital tools can serve sustainable tourism growth.

Technology, however advanced, can only go so far, warmth, genuine hospitality and the expertise of a guide interpreting a landscape remains uniquely human.

Reporting originally appeared via Business Daily. Read the full source for additional context.