Kenya has signalled a decisive shift toward a fully digital tourism economy after Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano endorsed the newly launched TouristTap platform, positioning it as a cornerstone innovation to enhance visitor experience and unlock sector-wide growth.
Speaking at the official launch in Nairobi, Miano described the platform as a “timely and transformative solution” aligned with Kenya’s ambition of building a globally competitive, digitally enabled tourism ecosystem.
“I must confess that I am already in love with this product,” she said, underscoring its potential to simplify transactions for both international visitors and local users.
Tourism remains a cornerstone of Kenya’s economy, generating approximately KES 500 billion in 2025 and supporting nearly three million jobs directly and indirectly.
With more than 75 per cent of the sector’s workforce aged under 35, the industry continues to serve as a critical pillar for youth employment and inclusive growth.
Miano noted that beyond its economic weight, tourism plays a broader role in sustaining livelihoods, fostering cultural exchange, and projecting Kenya’s identity globally.
“As we move forward, sustaining this growth demands innovation, efficiency, and exceptional visitor experiences,” she said.
At the heart of the government’s push is the need to eliminate payment friction across the tourism value chain—an area TouristTap seeks to address by enabling seamless, secure, and cashless transactions from arrival to departure.
The platform integrates payments across airports, hotels, national parks, local markets, and even informal traders such as kiosks, tuk-tuk operators, and street vendors.
Recounting past inefficiencies, Miano cited missed economic opportunities due to lack of accessible payment systems, including instances where local businesses lost high-value clients because they could not process digital transactions.
“This is the gap TouristTap is closing,” she said. “Every touchpoint of a visitor’s journey will now become smoother, more modern, and user-friendly.”
The launch comes as the government, under President William Ruto, accelerates digital transformation across key sectors.
Miano emphasised that seamless digital payments are no longer a luxury but a baseline expectation for modern travellers.
TouristTap introduces a unified cashless ecosystem designed to enhance transparency, streamline transactions, and strengthen revenue collection.
Miano pointed to successful digitisation efforts such as automated parking systems at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, which have significantly boosted revenues by eliminating manual processes.
The platform, developed by Craft Silicon, has now been officially recognised by the Government of Kenya as an authorised payment option across key tourism touchpoints.
Unveiled during the “Tap into Kenya” event, it enables visitors to transact seamlessly at game parks, hotels, coastal destinations, and a wide array of attractions nationwide.
At its core is a strategic partnership with KCB Bank as the acquiring partner, alongside Visa, powered through CyberSource on the Visa Acceptance Platform, ensuring global standards of security, reliability, and scalability.
TouristTap allows travellers to pay directly from NFC-enabled mobile devices by entering local till numbers, paybills, or mobile numbers and completing transactions with a simple tap and secure PIN, eliminating the need for cash or currency exchange.
Craft Silicon Group CEO Kamal Budhabhatti said the platform marks a new era of convenience and efficiency in the tourism ecosystem.
‘TouristTap represents a new era of convenience for travellers visiting Kenya. By enabling secure, cashless payments across the tourism ecosystem, we are enhancing the visitor experience and supporting financial inclusion, transparency, and operational efficiency for service providers,” he said.
Miano reinforced the government’s commitment to innovation-driven growth:
“Kenya continues to position itself as a forward-looking, digitally enabled tourism destination. The adoption of platforms like TouristTap strengthens our commitment to enhancing visitor experience, improving revenue transparency, and ensuring that our tourism ecosystem remains globally competitive.”
From the payment’s ecosystem, Chad Pollock, general manager and vice president for East Africa at Visa, highlighted the importance of payments in shaping visitor experience.
“Tourism is one of Kenya’s most important economic engines, and how visitors pay is a critical part of the experience. Through Visa’s global network and secure payment capabilities, TouristTap enables travellers to pay seamlessly and securely wherever their journey takes them, while helping tourism players operate more efficiently and transparently. This is how digital payments can unlock growth across the entire tourism value chain,” he said.
Representing the acquiring partner, Johnson Ondicho added:
“As KCB, we are proud to power the acquiring infrastructure behind TouristTap. This initiative aligns with our commitment to driving digital payments adoption and supporting key sectors such as tourism with scalable and secure financial solutions.”
With its robust infrastructure and strategic alliances, TouristTap is expected to redefine how visitors engage with Kenya’s destinations, ensuring every transaction is simple, secure, and fully digital.
“The future of tourism is digital, integrated, and experience-driven, and today, we take a bold step along that path,” Miano said.
