Kenya: Hotel Sector Jobs Grew at Highest Rate in August, September – CBK

Employment levels in Kenya’s hotel sector witnessed the highest growth in August and September since the pandemic hit the country in March 2020, a report released by the Central Bank of Kenya has revealed.

The survey shows that employment levels in the sector in August were up to 72 percent but witnessed a slight decline in September.

“In line with the levels of operations, employment levels in the sector improved in August to 72 percent of the pre-COVID-19 levels but declined slightly in September. This is the highest level of employment recorded since March 2020 reflecting continued recovery of the sector from the impact of the pandemic,” read CBK’s statement.

The players in the sector indicated that in the period under review on average, 96 percent of the sampled hotels were in operations in September, the same level as in July 2021.

In particular, 100 percent of the respondent hotels in the rest of the country and 93 percent of hotels in Nairobi were in operation.

The level of operations of hotels was assessed in terms of accommodation (bed occupancy rates), restaurant, and conference services.

“In line with the level of bed occupancy, the restaurant services improved to 40 percent in August and September from 38 percent in July. The utilization of the restaurant services in Nairobi has continued to improve since April following the lifting to 39 percent in August, before dropping slightly in September,” the survey read in part.

At the same time, the respondents indicated that on average, the utilization of conferencing services improved to 33 percent in September compared to 27 percent in July which reflected an improvement in the uptake of the services by the national and county governments.

According to participants, 14 percent of hotels expected to resume normal levels of operations by end of 2021 which was a slight increase from the 13 percent recorded in the July survey reflecting improved optimism driven by declining reported cases of COVID-19 infections and enhanced vaccinations.

However, about 28 percent of the respondent hotels were uncertain or didn’t know when their businesses would return to the pre-COVID-19 levels due to the possibilities of another lockdown or enhanced restrictions should the reported cases continue to rise.

About 20 percent of respondent hotels were of the view that their businesses would get back to normal operations if the curfew was removed.

Particularly, the 10 pm curfew had affected the sector directly, and indirectly from the spillover from other sectors particularly transport that has continued to be affected by the night travel ban.

Furthermore, 14 percent of respondents are hopeful that their business will recover in 2022.