Nairobi, April 22nd, 2025 – In 2024, Kenya launched a bold digital leap aimed at redefining the travel experience for visitors entering the country. Partnering with Swiss tech firm Travizory Border Security, the government introduced the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system—a modern, secure, and efficient platform designed to streamline entry, strengthen national security, and position Kenya as a forward-thinking, tech-driven destination.
The new ETA system replaced the legacy e-Visa service, which was part of the e-Citizen platform and operated by a local firm with limited experience in border security.
The old platform had long suffered from widespread inefficiencies. Tourists frequently reported frustrations such as being forced to submit separate applications for each family member, spending over an hour on the process, incurring unexplained fees (sometimes overcharged over 10$), and facing double payments, missing receipts, and ambiguous instructions. Approvals often took 3–5 days and required follow-ups from travelers. Frequent outages and poor customer communication further exacerbated the experience.
“Our clients were constantly frustrated,” says Irene Odhiambo, a tour operator based in Diani. “We’d spend hours trying to help travelers fix issues that should have been solved at the system level.”
Most troubling, the previous system allegedly left millions of travelers’ records—including passport copies—publicly exposed online for years, with no encryption or basic safeguards in place. This data reportedly included sensitive documents belonging to diplomats and high-ranking officials.
A Game-Changing Shift
Launched in January 2024, the Travizory ETA platform transformed this broken experience virtually overnight. It allowed travelers to apply as families or groups in just 10–15 minutes, receive proper receipts, and enjoy full transparency—ensuring that 100% of the collected fees were remitted directly to the National Treasury via e-Citizen.
The new system was lauded as a game-changer, with processing time dropping from 14 days in some cases to just 72 hours, according to the then-Principal Secretary for Immigration Services. In fact, most travelers received clearance in less than 36 hours. In its first year, the system processed over 1.8 million applications with 99.97% uptime—experiencing only 13 minutes of partial downtime.
“Travizory’s system transformed our immigration desks,” said a senior official at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), speaking anonymously. “Most visitors had cleared all formalities before arrival. We could process more people, faster and smarter.
Even more remarkable was its impact on tourism: Kenya has recorded a 40 % rise in foreign visitors numbers in the last three months compared to numbers recorded before the removal of the visa requirement. The ETA was even credited with encouraging the return of Brussels Airlines to the country, a decision that was “boosted by Kenya’s visa-free entry regime.”
The new eTA platform wasn’t just about convenience. It introduced cutting-edge innovations including:
● Group and family applications
● Integrated passport and facial scanning
● Digital Travel Credentials (DTCs), replacing paper forms
● Real-time pre-screening of travelers against global watchlists
Leaning on Travizory’s extensive experience in delivering border solutions for governments, these tools allowed border agents to focus resources on higher-risk individuals, dramatically improving security while accelerating throughput.
Airlines and international tour operators began marketing Kenya as a “hassle-free” destination, and the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) noted a measurable uptick in satisfaction, bookings, and positive reviews from travelers. Drawing consistently favorable reviews from travelers, the ETA platform boasted a 97% satisfaction rating from users, and the easy-to-use mobile app was rated 4.6 stars on both App stores.
Sudden Reversal Raises Questions
But on March 8, 2025, this momentum was abruptly disrupted. Without public notice or formal explanation, Travizory’s ETA system was quietly replaced by a new platform—reportedly developed under the e-Citizen umbrella by an undisclosed vendor.
While the new system mirrors Travizory’s UX/UI design—sparking accusations of IP theft—it lacks many of the robust security features and support infrastructure of its predecessor. Travelers report delayed approvals, unclear rejections, glitches, and long response times. Tour operators are seeing a sharp decline in traveler confidence.
“The difference is night and day,” says Boniface Mwangi, a Nairobi-based tour operator. “We’ve had people miss their flights waiting for travel clearance that never came.”
The situation facing travelers degraded so fast that the Kenyan Tourism Federation was forced to issue a statement calling for urgent action, explaining that “tour operators and hospitality businesses are already suffering losses due to last-minute cancellations and declining bookings.”
Legal Storm on the Horizon
According to a high-level government source, Kenya now faces a multi-million dollar lawsuit filed by Travizory. The Swiss company alleges that its proprietary intellectual property, including software design and risk-screening algorithms, was unlawfully copied and repurposed by local firms—some allegedly tied to government insiders.
Legal experts warn the case could have devastating implications for Kenya’s international reputation, particularly in the eyes of high-tech investors. Travizory’s backers include prominent European VC firms and other high-profile digital investors, including billionaires and sovereign funds.
“This lawsuit may signal to the global tech world that Kenya is not a safe or reliable jurisdiction for digital innovation,” noted an international arbitration partner at a major global law firm.
The story of Kenya’s ETA system is more than just a tale of technology—it is a reflection of the nation’s broader ambitions, vulnerabilities, and choices. In a world where digital efficiency and security are cornerstones of global competitiveness, Kenya had taken a bold step forward—only to stumble in the name of expedience or politics.
As questions mount and confidence wavers, the government’s next steps will be closely watched—not just by citizens and tourists, but by investors, partners, and global observers.
