Last updated: 04/05/2024
Home to more than 50 national parks, Africa’s second highest mountain, and some of the world’s most diverse wildlife populations, it’s no surprise why tourists from around the world flock to Kenya. Even though Kenya has no official travel insurance requirements, country officials and travel experts both strongly urge all visitors to obtain a travel insurance policy due to high trip costs and the potential for high medical bills.
When traveling to Kenya, Squaremouth recommends a comprehensive travel insurance policy that includes the following benefits:
From flights to safari tours, visiting Kenya can be a costly adventure. In 2022, Squaremouth data indicates that the average trip to Kenya cost travelers more than $11,5000 per group.
Having a travel insurance policy with cancellation coverage is a smart way to protect your trip investment. With the Trip Cancellation benefit, travelers can be reimbursed if they fall ill, get injured, or experience other covered disruptions prior to departing for their trip.
Policies with Trip Cancellation also include Trip Interruption coverage, which can provide travelers reimbursement if unexpected events cause them to return home from their trip early. This benefit applies to travelers that have already departed for their trip and have unused, nonrefundable trip costs.
Common covered reasons include unforeseen illness, injury, or death of the traveler, a traveling companion, or a non-traveling family member. Other covered cancellation reasons may also include terrorism, inclement weather, or a natural disaster, among others. With this coverage, travelers can receive up to 100% reimbursement for their insured trip costs.
Safaris and cultural tourism are some of the main drivers of visitors to Kenya, often taking travelers deep into remote areas of the countryWhen traveling to remote locations, far from hospitals and treatment facilities, it’s recommended to have a policy with high medical coverage.
Medical coverage is broken down into two main components, Emergency Medical and Medical Evacuation.
The Emergency Medical benefit covers the costs of medical treatment in the event of an illness or injury during their trip. If a traveler gets sick or injured while in Kenya, this benefit can cover physician services, ambulance expenses, and other costs of treatment. Given the potential high costs of treatment, we recommend a policy of at least $100,000 in Emergency Medical coverage.
The Medical Evacuation benefit can transport a traveler to the nearest adequate hospital in the event of a medical emergency. For example, if a traveler experiences an emergency while on a safari, this benefit can cover the costs of an evacuation. Due to the significant costs of an emergency evacuation, we recommend Kenya visitors find a policy with at least $250,000 in Medical Evacuation coverage.
While Kenya is home to one of Africa’s busiest airports, many tourists still may need to take a multi-leg journey to reach their destination. With that said, many comprehensive travel insurance policies offer protection for travelers that experience delays that impact their trip.
With the Travel Delay benefit, travelers can get reimbursed the cost of food and accommodations expenses incurred during a delay. A policy’s Missed Connection benefit can also reimburse travelers if a delay causes travelers to miss a connecting flight on route to or from their destination.
In addition, most comprehensive travel insurance policies come with both Baggage Delay coverage and Baggage & Personal Items Loss protection. Both benefits will offer reimbursement to travelers if their baggage gets damaged, delayed, or lost at any point during their trip.
For many, Kenya is the ultimate ‘once in a lifetime’ safari trip, with quintessential African wildlife and scenery on offer all throughout the nation.
Destination Rank: 37
Percentage of Squaremouth Sales: 0.66%
Average Premium: $766.82
Average Trip Cost: $12,998.23
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Steven Benna, Lead Data Analyst: sbenna@squaremouth.com