Omicron ‘confuses’ New Year Travel Plans In Kuwait

The announcement of the new Covid-19 mutant “Omicron” on Nov 28, has so far forced about 20% of the residents of Kuwait to either change or cancel altogether their New Year travel plans to all destinations citing uncertainty how the Kuwaiti authorities will react to fears of this virus spreading.
As for the new travel reservations for the New Year holidays, Al-Rai daily quoting sources indicated the demand for travel to Turkey is very weak and the same can be said of Cairo, while high ticket prices to Dubai are dampening the appetite of travelers.

In a related context, the sources said the tourism and travel offices in Kuwait reported a rise in the sales of about 115 percent from January to September 2021, compared to the same period in 2020, which was KD 101 million.

The sources confirmed the trend of sales was upward from January to September 2021 due to the easing of travel restrictions and the start of a gradual return to normalcy to the pre-Corona period although the sales are comparatively weak compared to corresponding period in 2019 which was 308 million dinars.

The tourism sources indicated the market began to regain its activity and recover from the effects of “Corona”, with travelers adapting to the new requirements imposed by the pandemic expecting sales figures to return to what they were before “Corona” in 2023 but ‘Omicron’ has put a dent in all expectations.

The number of travel offices in Kuwait has reached 430 and the monthly losses during the height of “Corona” from sales were approximately KD 34 million.

Nonetheless, sources say “Omicron” has so far not yet affected the travel sector in Kuwait, as there are strict procedures, and a majority of the people in Kuwait have been vaccinated, travel almost all over the world has been restricted to those who have not taken the jabs and PCR test has been made mandatory.

 

SOURCE   :   TIMES KUWAIT 

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