The Kenya Tourism Board has welcomed the removal of the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office travel advisory for Mombasa and the entire stretch of the Kenya coast from Watamu to the border with Tanzania.

While the south coast has always remained open for business, tourists will now be able to once again enjoy the majority of the Kenya coast, with the only exclusion now being Malindi and areas further north, including Lamu County.

Kenya’s coastline offers 500 kilometres of tranquil Indian Ocean beaches, with Mombasa (including Mombasa Island), Nyali, and Likoni among the areas open for tourists to enjoy.

Muriithi Ndegwa, managing director, Kenya Tourism Board commented: “We are delighted with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s decision to lift their travel advice for Kenya’s coast from Watamu to Diani as announced earlier.

“While our operators have continued to send their guests to the southern areas of the coast including Diani, Wasini and Msambweni we look forward to welcoming guests back to Mombasa and the beautiful coastline of Watamu and Kilifi.”

Kenya received 117,201 visitors from the UK market in 2014 and has always been a leading destination for safaris in British consumers’ minds.

With the re-opening of Mombasa and the area of the Kenya coast north of Mombasa, British consumers will once again be offered a wider beach offering, either combined with a safari in one of Kenya’s 59 national parks or as a stand-alone holiday.

Phyllis Kandie, cabinet secretary, East African Affairs commerce and tourism, Kenya, welcomed the decision by the British government.

“This is a huge endorsement to our recovery efforts and we look forward to working together with our stakeholders to turn the sector around,” she said.

The Cabinet Secretary reiterated government efforts on security improvement and alluded that the move would contribute immensely towards tourism recovery efforts.