Visa Restrictions Push Nigerians to New Holiday Destinations
Chinedu Eze
Stringent visa protocols introduced by the United States, some European and Asian countries, including the xenophobia in South Africa have forced Nigerians to discover new destinations during the summer holidays in 2026, especially in Africa.
Visa restrictions, which seem to target African countries and other third world nations have forced Nigerians to avoid most European countries, the United States and Canada and now prefer African destinations like Kenya, Rwanda, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritius, Ghana amongst others.
Some of these countries offer visa on arrival and e-visas and accept local currencies in the home countries, thereby reducing pressure on scarce foreign exchange.
Kenya is completely visa-free for Nigerian passport holders. Nigerian travellers do not need a visa or a pre-travel Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) to enter Kenya. Upon arrival in Kenya, travellers are granted entry clearance to stay for up to 60 days.
Kenya recorded 2.7 million visitors in 2025 and African continent remained the country’s leading source of visitors, accounting for 47 per cent of all international visitors. Nigerians who travel to Kenya experience notable surge in interest following Kenya’s policy shift in July 2025.
A month ago, during an award night in Lagos, Kenya Airways confirmed that its passenger numbers from Nigeria has significantly increased and that most of last year, it operated largely wide- body aircraft to Lagos, projecting to start Abuja as second destination from Nigeria.
The airline disclosed that passenger numbers from Nigeria grew by over 10,000 travellers, driven heavily by eased entry rules and visa-free and Electronic Travel Authorization waiver policies enacted by Kenya. This rise in traffic prompted the airline to boost its flight capacities and frequencies out of Lagos
This is an indication that more Nigerians now travel to Kenya as they were travelling to South Africa few years ago. Then South Africa served as venue for many Nigerian conferences, where the organisers combine safari and business.
Also, Ghana reported that over 176, 000 Nigerians visited the country in 2025, emphasising the massive scale of Nigerian out outbound tourism within the continent
Rwanda is visa-free for Nigerian passport holders for short visits. Under a bilateral agreement, Nigerians can travel to Rwanda without obtaining a visa prior to departure and are granted a free 30-day single-entry visa upon arrival. Known as the “Land of a Thousand Hills,” Rwanda is celebrated for its wildlife, including gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park, and its clean, green cities.
Also, Nigerian passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival in Egypt for $30. Travellers may also apply for approval via the Egypt e-visa platform (ESIA). Egypt is known as the treasure trove of ancient history, home to the Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, the massive temples in Luxor, the Nile River, the blue waters of the Red Sea and the peaceful Siwa Oasis
On the contrary, the UK government has continued to implement strict immigration overhauls to curb visa misuse and reduce net migration. Major changes include tightened university sponsorship rules, expanded deportation powers, and higher salary thresholds for skilled workers.
Under the Trump administration, US imposed new travel restrictions on Nigerians seeking to enter the United States, targeting visa categories that account for the majority of visas issued to Nigerian nationals by US consular authorities.
Under the new measures, Nigerians are barred from entering the US as immigrants or on several non-immigrant visa categories, including B-1 (business), B-2 (tourism), combined B-1/B-2, F (academic studies), M (vocational studies) and J (exchange programmes).
These categories represent the bulk of visas issued annually by the US embassy and consulates in Nigeria, covering business travel, tourism, education and exchange programmes.
Canada experienced a 48 per cent decline in granting study permits to Nigerians, between January and August 2025, granting only about 2,800 study permits compared with the same period in 2024.
Also, the US experienced a 24 per cent year-on-year drop as it issued only around 1,400 F-1 student visas to Nigerians from January to May 2025. The main reasons are the recent travel bans and restrictions.
These figures, which point to a reduction in approvals, reveals a complex picture of Nigerian students’ global study trends.
Before the summer holidays, average return economy tickets from Nigeria to Kenya, Egypt, and Rwanda was N800,000. However, a summer demand surge has pushed airfares significantly higher.
Currently, a return economy ticket from Lagos to Kenya for August and September averages ₦1.3 million, a 62.5 per cent increase. Flights to Rwanda have climbed 50 per cent to average N1.2 million, while return tickets to Egypt have surged 87.5 per cent to reach an average of N1.5 million.
The President of National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Yinka Folami, told THISDAY that more Nigerians now travel to African destinations, noting that compared to last year, the number of Nigerians who are travelling this year for summer is at the level of last year.
He said that travel for summer holiday would peak by first to second week of September and it would then experience downward trend afterwards.
Currently, the cost of return ticket to London and other European destinations is about N3 million for economy class but after the summer season it would come down to N1.9 million to N2 million.
He said the popular destinations still remained Europe, UK, Canada, since the US has literally shut its doors against Nigerian travellers. Nigerians also still go to the far and Middle East.
Folami confirmed that more Nigerians now travel to African destinations and the tonic is liberal visa policy introduced by some countries like Rwanda, Kenya, Benin Republic, Ghana and others.
“More people travel to Africa. We are encouraging Africa to Africa travel and the number of Nigerians travelling to African destinations will continue to increase. Africa is the next thing in the world. We are advocating for more travel across Africa,” he said.
Yes, African destinations and intra-African travel have increasingly drawn Nigerian holidaymaker’s due to surging foreign exchange pressures, rising flight costs to Europe or North America, simpler visa-on-arrival processes across several African nations, and a growing pride in exploring rich, culturally vibrant neighbouring landscapes.
The benefit of intra- Africa includes less currency pressures because the fluctuations in the Naira make traditional long-haul trips to Europe, North America, or Asia much more expensive.
African countries offer high-end leisure experiences at a lower relative cost as holidaymakers find that local African currencies or dollar-indexed regional travel stretch their vacation budgets further.
In the coming years, Africa will progressively become more enthusiastic to welcome Africans and with growing economy in the region, interest in Europe, the US and Canada will wane as holiday destinations and more Nigerians will be travelling to other African countries for holidays.