President Uhuru visit and Isiolo airport boost growth of Meru hotel industry

The Alba Hotel where President Uhuru Kenyatta spent the night during a recent campaign tour.

The buzz around Nairobi’s hospitality industry is by now familiar. International brands have set up or are planning to set up facilities in the capital in the last few years in what analysts claim is a boon for business travellers. In the just concluded General Election, city hotels saw a lot of business as observers and foreign media corps jostled for space.

The trend in the focus of business travellers is, however, not a preserve of the capital. Towns designated as county headquarters or set strategically in the regions are seeing the same trend, the only difference is that the hotels setting up here are mostly homegrown brands.