Kilifi is one of the African destinations of the future, we have been writing about it for some time and have covered it in numerous reports, including videos.
Kilifi, once famous more for being the capital of the northern Kenyan coast and later of the county that bears its name, is now a tourist and residential resort known the world over, above all because it is frequented and praised by young ‘digital nomads’, entrepreneurs and artists of various disciplines, who have channelled other activities into catering, sport, and of course hospitality.
It is no coincidence that this year Kilifi was included (perhaps surprisingly only for the boomers) in the New York Times' famous “52 places to go” list of 2025, which each year highlights the year's trendy places.
Kilifi, in the company of such pearls as the island Koh Samui in Thailand, an itinerary of Sicilian beauties, the Galapagos and other special places, as well as a list of cities among which Milan stands out.
Kilifi is defined as a ‘style-destination’ and compared to a new ‘Island of Whight’, where young people find their natural habitat, amidst communities of smart workers, musicians and entertainers, designers and other professionals often under 40, with one eye on sustainability and another on technology.

For those of us who know the town, it is not difficult to understand the reasons for this choice: the global success of the New Year's Eve event ‘Beneath the Baobab’, a reunion to the sound of music in the midst of Nature, with young people involved and trendy deejays from all over the world, which has placed Kilifi in a list of festivals defined as ‘not to be missed’ by the new generations, has played a major role in attracting people.
Another aspect is the relocation of many young couples with children to the coastal resort, with the essential presence of an excellent and modern international school, in which it has become difficult to enrol their children. The growth of ‘trendy’ meeting places such as the Food Movement, Salty's and Distant Relatives (the first to bet on this type of entertainment), is both a consequence and an added value. In this context, there is also the new Italian proposal of the renovated White Star by Olimpia restaurant, with its large boat on which the young people themselves organise dance parties, birthdays and outings in the beautiful creek. Without forgetting that where there is life, all over the world, there is always excellent Italian pizza. I wonder if the New York Times knows this?

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