The tourism sector at Coast has received a major economic boost after the first chartered flight from the republic of Bulgaria flew in 160 Bulgaria tourists for a 10-day holiday.

The aircraft, operated by European Air, landed at the Moi International Airport in Mombasa on Sunday Morning from the Bulgaria capital, Sofia, signaling tourism sector resilience.

Kenya tourism Board marketing director Fred Okeyo noted that the flight arrival signaled hope for Kenyan tourism, which has suffered heavily due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The New charter from Bulgaria has shown confidence with Kenya at a time that this sector is recovering, for us we want to assure our tourists that we are ready for attracting many guests,” said Okeyo.

Bulgaria is the latest European Market following a significant growing interest in Kenyans tourism products.

The second charter flight will get in on February 26, 2022 in the new rotational charter programe.

"We trust that they are going to be very good ambassadors in their country, and we are happy as a destination that we will continue to get more tourists from Bulgaria,” he added.

Polmans tours and Safaris managing director Mohamed Hersi said Kenya is now looking to tap onto the Bulgarian market that has proven to be a potential market source that has remained untapped.

The tourists will enjoy safari at various National parks and beaches. He said Kenya is still in negotiations with other source markets like Rushia, Turkey among other European countries.

"We are asking the government to really support the chartered flights that are landing in Mombasa, owing to infrastructure investment the government has put into refurbishing the airport,” said Hersi.

Hersi expressed fears that the sector may experience a slow down owing to political heat in the country ahead of the upcoming elections.

"We urge our politicians to conduct themselves so as we don't suffer as a sector, the sector has been on an upward trajectory in the year 2021 until April this year, we are looking forward to another rebound in the second quarter of the year,” said Hersi.

Ian Popov, one of the tourists, expressed his excitement for his first visit in Kenya, where he anticipates visiting the Tsavo National Park as well as sampling what the Kenyan coastal beaches have to offer.

Bulgaria head of delegation representative in Kenya Georpi Pase said that  the arrival of the new airline was a historical event  that served as testimony to  excellent bilateral relations that exist between Kenya and Bulgaria.

“We are excited to be in Kenya for the first time, Kenya is a great country that every tourist wants to visit, and we are ready for a game drive at Tsavo National park, it has been my dream to visit Kenya,” said Popov.