The annual Christmas fever is starting to set in as hundreds upon hundreds of local and international tourists descend to the coastal towns of Malindi and Watamu for the festive season. Besides the usual suspects like Italian billionaire Favio Briatore, who flew-in in his private jet, this year has witnessed a rise in domestic tourist numbers.

The Malindi Airport has realised a 15% increase in traffic with most airlines increasing the frequency of their flights or bringing in larger capacity planes.

Again, locals are the majority passengers aboard these flights! Finnair even made a comeback after 11 years of absence with the introduction of a new direct flight from Finland to Mombasa which will be a major boost to tourism as the Scandinavian countries land at the coast. The bi-weekly flight has already seen more than 30,000 arrivals come through the Moi International Airport in Mombasa.