Kuwait focuses to boost tourism sector

KUWAIT CITY - According to a report issued by Collier International Group Inc., Kuwait is focusing on the redevelopment of its tourism sector, as it announced a capital investment of $830 million through the Kuwait Investment Authority to facilitate the achievement of its tourism goals, reports Al-Anba daily.

Following the announcement, the Tourism Enterprises Company (TEC) revealed the redevelopment plans for the country’s hospitality, leisure and entertainment sector, in addition to plans to implement three major projects. It explained that the company, in line with New Kuwait 2035 vision, aims to repurpose, modernize and redevelop the existing tourism facilities in order to provide new world-class experiences for visitors. The hotel occupancy rate in Kuwait declined by four percent in the third quarter of 2019, and continued to decline by a significant 44 percent in the third quarter of 2020.

However, it recovered to reduce this decline to only five percent in the third quarter of 2021. As for the room’s daily income rates, they recorded a decline of seven percent in the third quarter of 2019, and stabilized without change during the corresponding period of 2020. However, they recorded a significant recovery in the third quarter of 2021, amounting to seven percent. The report compared the tourism sectors in Kuwait, Manama, Muscat and Doha.

It explained that approximately 3,000 room keys of international brands joined the tourism facilities market in the four capitals during the period between the third quarter of 2020 and the third quarter of 2021. Muscat acquired the majority of the new offer in these markets with nearly 1,300 new keys.

The demand in Manama, Muscat, Oman and Doha has begun to recover after the initial shock caused by the COVID- 19 pandemic, as the occupancy rates showed a significant increase. Doha witnessed the largest recovery in terms of occupancy levels, which increased by 79 percent between 2020 and 2021. The rise in hospitality performance in Doha is partly attributed to the easing of border restrictions between the GCC and Qatar. The recovery of average daily income was significantly slower when compared to the recovery of hotel occupancy rates. These markets are sensitive to prices, which is mainly due to the instability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Doha, Oman and Kuwait City saw increases in the American Depositary Receipt (ADRs) by between 7 percent and 12 percent, all other regional markets continued to face declines in this area. The most significant change in it can be seen by observing the Muscat market, which faced a 44-percent drop compared to the figures in the third quarter of 2020. The Collier report stated that the hospitality market in branded facilities in these regional markets is expected to reach nearly 51,000 rooms by the end of 2021. Doha is expected to be the largest contributor to the new offering by entering nearly 6,700 rooms by the first half of 2022 in preparation for the new offering for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in the fourth quarter of 2022, followed by Manama.