If you've searched the net for health insurance that covers expats in Kenya then you are most likely for looking for established UK based health insurance companies that will cover your medical expenses in Kenya.
Living as an expat in Kenya you want to avoid any unwanted and unexpected medical costs. In some countries these can amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds for very serious conditions.
Our advice when shopping around for private medical insurance that covers expatriates living in Kenya is to speak to a insurance broker. Health insurance is incredibly complicated and if you want complete certainty that Kenya is covered by your policy you should consult with a medical insurance broker who can explain which providers will cover medical expenses for expatriates in Kenya and which will not.
There are many advantages to using a insurance broker but the biggest by far is that you're using their insurance training at no cost. They are paid by the insurer (Aviva or Bupa etc) rather than you so it costs you no extra to use their brokering services.
- Do you reside in many different areas? Some will give you a cheaper policy premium than offers. A broker will be able to advise whats best.
- Do you have a hobby that may invalidate your insurance claim? A broker will know this critical information.
- If you are a couple and one of you has claimed on your policy this year would it be cheaper to separate you both onto two different policies?
- You've developed a certain condition and want to know which insurer offers the biggest amount of cover for it. A broker will know this instantly saving you so much time and effort.
You can call around every health insurance provider you can find and ask if they provider cover for expats in Kenya, however this will be a very time consuming process. Each insurer will ask for your medical history because its not normally a simple yes or not if a medical condition is covered or not.
Its much quicker to speak to one health insurance broker which will know which providers on the market offer cover for expats in Kenya and under what terms they do or don't cover it.
Kenya Information
Tourism in Kenya is the second-largest source of foreign exchange revenue following agriculture. The Kenya Tourism Board is responsible for maintaining information pertaining to tourism in Kenya.
Beach tourism, eco-tourism, cultural tourism, and sports tourism are all part of the tourism sector in Kenya. During the 1990s, the number of tourists travelling to Kenya decreased, partly due to the well-publicised murders of several tourists. However, tourism in Kenya is one of the leading sources of foreign exchange along with coffee.
Following the controversial 2007 presidential election and the 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis that followed, tourism revenues plummeted 54 percent from 2007 in the first quarter of 2008. It fell to 8.08 billion shillings (US$130.5 million) from 17.5 billion shillings in January–March 2007 and a total of 130,585 tourists arrived in Kenya compared to over 273,000 that year. Tourist income from China dropped 10.7%, compared with over 50% from traditional revenue earners the United States and Europe. Domestic tourism improved by 45%, earning the tourist sector 3.65 billion shillings out of the 8.08 billion in the period being reviewed.
Conference tourism was badly hit during the first quarter, dropping by 87.4% compared to the growth that occurred in 2007. Conference attendance declined also with 974 people arriving in Kenya during that period while many conferences were cancelled. Business travel declined by 21 per cent during the time period and 35,914 travellers came into the country compared to 45,338 during the same period the year before.
Kenya won the Best Leisure Destination award at the World Travel Fair in Shanghai, China, in April 2008. The then permanent secretary in Kenya's Ministry of Tourism, Rebecca Nabutola, stated that the award "goes to testify that Kenya has a unique world acclaimed tourism product. The recognition will no doubt boost Kenya's tourism and enhance its profile as a leading tourist destination."
Tourist numbers reached a peak of 1.8 million visitors in 2011 before decreasing due to terrorist attacks in 2013, specifically the Westgate Terror attack that prompted travel restrictions and advisories including from England. International tourist arrivals for 2013 were 1.49 million. Despite tourist advisories during the election period, Tourist Arrivals in Kenya increased to 105862 in December from 72573 in November of 2017. Tourist Arrivals in Kenya averaged 81987.29 from 2006 until 2017.
In 1995, there were 34,211 hotel beds with a 44% occupancy rate. 1,036,628 visitors arrived in Kenya in 2000 and tourism receipts totalled $257 million. That year, the US government estimated the average cost of staying in Nairobi at $202 per day, compared to $94 to $144 per day in Mombasa, depending on the time of year.
In 2019, global visits to Kenya came to 2,048,334 in 2019, 1,423,971 to Nairobi, 128,222 to Mombasa. 27,447 tourists entered other airports by ground. Total arrivals in 2018 were registered at 2,025,206-Kenya’s growth in 2019 was 1,167%. Together with the overall growth of 1,167%, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Moi International Airport showed significant growth of 6.07% and 8.56% respectively. Najib Balala, Tourism Cabinet Secretary in Kenya, is the person credited for an African tourism achievement of $1.6 billion.
Ecotourism is the responsible travel of people to natural areas while maintaining a high priority of the conservation of the host country’s environment and local community’s lifestyles. This differs from mass tourism, which is a more organized and mainstream movement of larger numbers of people to specialized locations, or “popular destinations”, such as resorts. Mass tourism is often offered in package deals where the tourist can purchase a plane ticket, hotel, activities, food, etc. from one single company. This type of tourism is usually not concerned with environmental impact or climate change and puts business and revenue as its top priority, whereas the main goal of ecotourism is to make minimal impact on local communities while improving their state of well-being. The rise of ecotourism has annually increased by 10-15% worldwide, and 20% of that tourism accounts for travel to the global south, with a 6% increase each year in tourism specifically to third world countries. Kenya’s wildlife and unique landscapes have attracted a growth in ecotourism, and much of its economy is now primarily sustained by foreign revenue brought in by tourism, causing a myriad of positive and negative impacts to its culture, ecosystems, and the lifestyles of its local people.
For travelers, ecotourism is an attractive alternative to the mass migration of vacationers and offers a more intimate interaction with local nature and culture. Instead of spending leisure time inside the walls of a resort, ecotourists have a more “real” experience and are able to gain a better appreciation of the world’s natural resources, landscapes, and wildlife. Ecotourism has also influenced businesses like hotels and lodges to be more environmentally conscientious in terms of recycling and providing eco-friendly products. Besides majorly boosting the economy in host countries with foreign currency, tourism provides new job opportunities for locals such as tour guiding, craft making and selling, food services, and cultural performances, which in turn help reduce the need for people to resort to unsustainable practices like poaching or over hunting and fishing. The construction of new medical facilities, cleaner water sources, new roads, and electricity to accommodate incoming tourists simultaneously provides a higher standard of living for the local communities as well. Ecotourism assists in maintaining the environmental integrity and biodiversity of a country by providing an economic desire to preserve native land and wildlife in the form of reservations and game parks, which aid in the protection of threatened species. The revenue from park fees, safari tours, camp fees, and local taxes often contribute to conservation work as well. Rather than the quick fix of monetary donations or handouts, ecotourism potentially offers a more long-term solution to poverty.