NAIROBI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's travel and tourism sector grew faster than the regional average and the growth is above other economies in sub-Saharan Africa, says a report released in Nairobi on Wednesday.

According to research from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the country's hospitality sector grew by 5.6 percent in 2018 to contribute 790 billion shillings (about 7.9 billion U.S. dollars) and 1.1 million jobs to the Kenyan economy.

"This rate of growth is faster than the global average of 3.9 percent and the sub-Saharan Africa average of 3.3 percent," says the survey.

The findings indicate that Kenya is now the third largest tourism economy in sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa and Nigeria, both of which grew substantially less than Kenya in 2018.

The survey shows that in total, international tourists spent about 1.57 billion dollars in Kenya last year.

The largest inbound international markets included the United States, United Kingdom, India and China, says the report.

Gloria Guevara Manzo, chief executive officer of WTTC, said that Africa is one of the great success stories of global travel.