Tourism on a comeback…

KENYA’S coastal resorts had seen a pick-up in bookings by western visitors, suggesting a tourist industry devastated by Islamist attacks might be starting to recover, tourism executives said yesterday. Holidaymakers shunned Kenya’s beaches and wildlife safaris after attacks blamed on al-Shabaab militants from neighbouring Somalia triggered warnings against non-essential travel to the coast by Western governments. Britain, the source of more than half the country’s tourists, lifted a travel advisory covering most of the coast in June, setting the stage for a recovery. Visitor arrivals to Kenya fell by a quarter in the first five months of the year, to 284 313 from 381 278 in the same period last year. – Reuters