Relentless lobbying by Kenya’s tourism industry and equally relentless digs by the travel media over Kenya’s decision to only permit online e-Visa applications have shown the best result yet when Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that the parallel system of on-arrival and online applications would continue for the time being.

Since the beginning of the month, when the new in advance visa policy came into effect, numerous travelers were told by airlines they could not board their flight to Kenya in the absence of a visa, even though Kenya Airways had informed the traveling public that two desks had been established at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to process passengers who arrived without the crucial document.

Added research by Kenyan tourism organizations also revealed to them that the element of last-minute bookings was in fact much larger than originally assumed.