- The government of Canada escalated its travel advisory for Kenya, placing six counties on a high-risk red list citing terrorism and kidnapping
- The advisory singles out specific Nairobi neighbourhoods, including Eastleigh and Kibera, under a separate non-essential travel warning
- Kenya’s tourism sector, which employs more than 500,000 people, now faces fresh pressure as the busy travel season approaches
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The government of Canada has raised its travel advisory for Kenya, designating several counties as no-go zones for Canadian citizens and flagging security concerns ranging from terrorism to opportunistic crime across much of the country.
President William Ruto held a bilateral meeting with Canada prime minister Mark Carney in September 2025. Photo: William Samoei Ruto
The warning, published on the official government of Canada travel page, applies a colour-coded risk framework. Under the most severe category, Canadians are strongly discouraged from travelling to Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, and Lamu counties, which share a border with Somalia, due to elevated risks of terrorist attacks and kidnapping.
Turkana and Marsabit counties, specifically areas within 110 kilometres of the borders with South Sudan and Ethiopia, carry the same designation owing to armed banditry and cross-border violence. Portions of Tana River county and areas of Kilifi county north of Malindi also fall under the red-level advisory on kidnapping grounds.
Which are high-risk Nairobi neighbourhoods?
Within the capital, the advisory targets Eastleigh, Kibera, and Pangani under a separate “avoid non-essential travel” classification linked to high crime rates. For the remainder of Kenya, Canadian citizens are urged to exercise a high degree of caution because of a general terrorism threat and elevated crime.
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The advisory additionally notes that frequent power blackouts could create conditions for opportunistic theft and may disrupt essential services including healthcare, banking, and transportation.
Economic stakes for Kenya’s tourism sector
The timing is significant. Kenya’s tourism industry, which directly employs more than half a million people and spans safari operators, coastal hotels, tour guides, and restaurateurs, is approaching its peak travel period.
Canada’s latest warning arrives amid broader global travel disruptions, including geopolitical tensions in the Middle East that have already prompted airline cancellations and route reductions.
While the advisory formally applies only to Canadian nationals, such warnings routinely influence travellers from other markets and can affect decisions by international conference organisers and investors.
Canadian tourists planning trips to Kenya are advised by their government to stay in hotels with strong security arrangements, avoid large public gatherings, and exercise caution around food and drinks left unattended.
The government also cautions citizens against travelling to meet individuals they have known exclusively through online contact, citing risks of scams and financial extortion.
US issues travel alerts
Meanwhile, the US government issued a travel alerton July 15, asking its nationals not to visit Uganda and 10 other African countries citing dangerous local conditions.
The advisory covered 23 countries globally.
Besides Uganda, other African nations includes Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan.
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Asher Omondi (Copyeditor)Asher Omondi is currently the Head of Business Desk at TUKO.co.ke. He has over seven years of experience in digital media. Previously, he had worked in various organisations both as a social media manager and a monitor (FEMNET, Ghafla Kenya). He was a Broadcast Journalism student at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication class of 2013. You can reach Asher at asher.omondi@tuko.co.ke.
