Kuwaitis Flock to New Travel Destinations as Summer Heats Up
KUWAIT CITY, May 29: As temperatures continue to rise, Kuwaitis are packing their bags and booking their tickets in preparation for the new season of international tourism; adding new countries to their list of favorite destinations and those known to welcome them such as London, Lebanon, Berlin, New York and Asian countries. With the start of the new season, some subtle changes are evident from each season. Tourism experts believe that this year's season is characterized by destinations with green nature and lower costs, as new countries have appeared on the map of Kuwaiti tourists, such as the Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, among others. Tourism expert and travel company owner Mohammed Al-Omar told the newspaper that Kuwaitis love traveling in the summer to escape the heat.
'Their travel destinations vary -- from England to Germany and other European countries. However, these people are from the affluent segment and own real estate in these countries. Meanwhile, the middle class tends to head to East Asian countries, Turkiye and Arab countries. Most citizens book their tickets in May each year, and the percentage of family travel abroad reaches more than 85 percent, while the percentage of those traveling without their families is about 15 percent,' he revealed. He expects the stability of the situation in Lebanon to contribute to the remarkable increase in the number of Kuwaitis traveling to Beirut, especially since many families own apartments and homes there. He believes that the choice of destinations does not come randomly from citizens, as they prefer more stable countries, far from natural disasters.
'A group of middle-income earners prefer lower costs for accommodation and tickets. Airline offers play a significant role in directing citizens to travel to a specific country. According to official statistics, Kuwaitis spent approximately KD2.97 billion in the first nine months of 2024, compared to KD3.35 billion in the first nine months of 2023. The decline in spending is attributed to a percentage of citizens' preference for countries that combine low costs with beautiful natural surroundings,' he explained.
He said that there are other factors leading to a decrease in citizens' travel costs, such as the focus on less expensive and more stable destinations, especially since the emergence of many tourist destinations where citizens can spend quality time with their families at an affordable cost.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Shukri, Director General of the Gulf Information and Documentation Center, pointed out that Kuwaitis have been traveling since the founding of the State of Kuwait, and the purpose used to be commercial. 'Meanwhile, citizens in the era of luxury and oil inherited the love of travel from the first generation, but their destinations today differ from one country to another. People recently preferred to travel to Turkiye due to the calm life and low cost, while the financially well-off goes to European countries,' he added.
He stated that there are some other less expensive countries preferred by a fair number of Kuwaitis like Thailand and some coastal tourist cities. CEO of a tourism and travel company, Walid Abu Sharoud, thinks that Kuwaiti travel destinations can be divided into two segments -- first is that there is a large segment prefers to travel to Istanbul, Baku, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, London and Egypt; while a new segment has been active over the past three years in Moscow, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Poland. He added that travel indicators for the year 2025 show a segment of Kuwaitis who prefer to travel to Sochi, Russia and the Czech Republic.
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