Functions of two tourism agencies are set to be collapsed into one as Kenya moves to streamline the management and marketing of the sector to attract more visitors, if a new Bill before the National Assembly is passed into law.
The Tourism (Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeks to amend the Tourism Act to enhance efficiency, accountability and service delivery in the tourism sector.
Sponsored by Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, the Bill proposes to abolish the Tourism Research Institute and the Tourism Finance Corporation and transfer their functions to the Kenya Tourism Board.
If passed into law, the Kenya Tourism Board would become responsible not only for marketing Kenya as a top tourism destination but also for conducting research and market intelligence to inform product development and marketing.
The Board would also collect and analyse information on tourism products and services, market needs and trends, sustainable tourism and other related areas.
The proposed abolition of the Tourism Research Institute and Tourism Finance Corporation is in line with the Government’s policy of reducing public expenditure by merging State corporations with overlapping or related mandates. The aim is to improve operational efficiency and eliminate duplication.
“The principal object of this Bill is to amend the Tourism Act, Cap 381, for purposes of streamlining the management of tourism to enhance efficiency, accountability and service delivery in the tourism sector,” the Bill states.
The Bill is currently before the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Tourism and Wildlife, where it is undergoing public participation.
Tourism sector players have called for a review of the Tourism Act, arguing that the current legal framework is one of the factors inhibiting the growth of the industry.
They point to overlapping roles among the Kenya Tourism Board, Tourism Research Institute and Tourism Finance Corporation, which deal with various aspects of tourism development and marketing.
The duplication, they argue, has resulted in fragmented marketing of Kenya as a tourist destination, duplication of efforts and a disconnect between marketing and market intelligence. They also say it has weakened accountability and limited the growth of the tourism industry.
The Bill also proposes to expand the functions of the Tourism Fund to include new areas such as working with county governments to co-finance tourism development and promotion projects and programmes.
The Fund would also support innovations and inventions that promote tourism development, as well as the enhancement of development standards and capacity in the tourism sector.
The Bill further proposes to include proceeds from the Air Passenger Service Charge in the Tourism Fund. This is intended to eliminate duplication of roles, improve efficiency and enable the Government to finance tourism-related projects from a single source.
The Air Passenger Service Charge is already financing, through securitisation, the upgrade of key infrastructure projects expected to boost the tourism industry following the enactment of the Air Passenger Service Charge (Amendment) Act last year by the National Assembly.
The infrastructure projects include the expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and the ongoing construction and upgrade of Bomas of Kenya.
Tourism is one of Kenya’s biggest foreign exchange earners, contributing approximately seven per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Kenya also ranks among the top tourist destinations in the East African Community.
However, in recent years, neighbouring countries have recorded significant growth in tourism, with Tanzania emerging as Kenya’s biggest competitor.
