NAIROBI, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's tourist marketers said Friday they expect the number of tourists visiting Kenya from the United States to grow as Kenya Airways prepares to launch direct flights to New York in October.

The Kenya Tourism Board also termed the national carrier's direct flight to the U.S. as a welcome development as it is expected to accelerate growth of the tourism industry by contributing to increased tourist arrivals.

Kenya Airways said on Thursday it will launch a non-stop flight from Nairobi to New York and has already started selling tickets for the inaugural flight which is scheduled for Oct. 28.

The airline will operate its state of the art Boeing 787 Dreamliner with a capacity of 234 passengers.

The U.S. is currently Kenya's top tourism source market, commanding a market share of 12.2 percent of total arrivals to Kenya as of October 2017.