Kuwait Has To Take Measures To Develop Tourism Sector

According to official studies by the World Health Organization, Kuwaiti citizens spend 11 percent of their income on foreign tourism abroad, which provides an estimated revenue of KD4 billion dinars annually in these countries, Al-Qabas daily reported. Instead of Kuwait exploiting the coronavirus crisis to develop and promote domestic tourism in light of the travel ban from 32 countries, tourism remains an untapped market.

There is a severe lack of development in the tourism sector in Kuwait, while neighboring countries in the Middle East region spur their own tourism growth, and the best example of this is the United Arab Emirates, and Dubai in particular, which ranked in the list of the best tourist destinations in the world.

One of the reasons given for the underdevelopment, said the daily, is the strict government procedures in Kuwait related to entering and residing in the country, which is a major obstacle for tourists, as Kuwait only allows those with valid residency permits, or visitor visas, most of which are issued to relatives of workers in the country, and from these, most come either to see their relatives, or benefit from the visa period to look for work, which means that Kuwait will not benefit from them in the development of its tourism sector.

Tourism Authority

The absence of a tourism authority or a ministry concerned with the development of that sector is the biggest obstacle to the tourism sector in Kuwait, a direct contrast to Gulf countries and the world, which aims to take care of tourism affairs and outlines a general policy for supporting tourism in the country. The introduction of such a ministry or authority will contribute to revitalizing tourism in Kuwait, with regards to preparing public policies, plans and programs to improve the performance of tourism facilities, setting standards and building an information system for tourism sites and services.

In addition, the authority would represent Kuwait with the competent international authorities, which would help the country to revitalize its hotel and tourism industry, as well as training and providing employment for national workers in this sector.

Support and licenses

The establishment of a tourism authority in Kuwait would work to provide support for tourism projects, and to issue licenses for tourist activity in accordance with the laws in force. However, Kuwait faces many obstacles to building itself into a tourist destination, the main issue is the closure of entertainment facilities in the country under the current circumstances, the latest is the entertainment city, which was closed to visitors for restoration, which represents Kuwait’s economic and management ills. This is in addition to the absence of parks and the governmental slowdown in establishing or developing and modernizing the existing entertainment facilities.

There is also a lack of growth in its shopping tourism, despite the variety of shopping centers in Kuwait, they can be exploited and marketed externally and supported by international brands, to become a center of attraction for Arab, Gulf and foreign tourists, where international exhibitions can be organized.

Vision 2035

Under the Kuwait Vision 2035, the development of the tourism, entertainment and shopping sectors will have a great role in supporting the economy and attracting investment, and also generate job opportunities for young Kuwaitis in the private sector. The development of the tourism sector in Kuwait requires several things, foremost is the establishment of an independent authority or a ministry specialized in tourism, creating legislation regulating tourism, while encouraging Kuwaiti investors to invest internally in this sector.

The government should believe in the importance of the tourism sector not only as an alternative source of income for the country, but also to invest billions of dinars that are spent by the Kuwaiti people, to take a part of the global tourism on the one hand, and to transform Kuwait not only into a financial and commercial center for the world, but a tourist hub as well.

Medical tourism destinations

The Medical Tourism Association’s index showed, in a report from Manama, that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries topping the list of the best destinations for medical tourism in the world, the United Arab Emirates ranked first in the Gulf region, Oman came in second place, and the Kingdom of Bahrain third, while the Saudi Arabia Kingdom was ranked fourth, while Kuwait is last.

The medical tourism index depends on a variety of factors, including the environment, patient experience, current levels of medical tourism, and the attractiveness of traditional tourism.

Recent studies indicate that, over the past years, the Middle East and North Africa region has witnessed an increase in the number of medical tourists and patients seeking treatment for various types of physical or plastic surgical injuries.

The growth of the healthcare services sector in the region has witnessed a compound annual rate of 18.8 percent since 2004, and the boom in the medical tourism sector in the Arab countries guarantees a sustainable future for the medical-cosmetic market, thanks to the increasing numbers of visitors looking for cosmetic treatments.

According to studies, the medical tourism market was valued at about $15.5 billion in 2017, and it is expected to record revenues of $28 billion by the end of 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of about 8.8 percent between 2018 and 2024.

Expectations indicate that the volume of medical tourism spending from the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council to various countries of the world amounted to 20 billion dollars. The Gulf countries began working to build hospitals locally and develop the medical sector, not only to limit the treatment of their citizens abroad, but to encourage foreigners to come to their countries to receive treatment which would be reinvested into countries economy.

 

Source: Timeskuwait

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