A MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR TOURISM PLAN FOR KUWAIT

With ambitions to welcome 440,000 visitors annually by 2024, the government of Kuwait is pressing ahead with multiple plans that will see billions of dollars invested in projects and a further USD 1 billion budget earmarked to promote the Gulf state over the same period. The projects include: Madinat Al Hareer and Silk City, a proposed megadevelopment in the country’s north; the expansion of Kuwait International Airport, reaching an annual capacity of 25 million passengers by 2025; and cultural attractions, such as Sheikh Saad Al-abdullah Islamic Centre. A consortium of South Korean construction companies will build an eco-friendly and smart USD 4 billion residential city as well. The smart city will accommodate 25,000 to 40,000 households, with construction scheduled to begin in 2019. The government of South Korea will help form the consortium in 2018, and will set up a special purpose company in 2019 to help push the project forward.

Plans are in place to establish a Supreme Commission for Tourism to initiate the national tourism strategy.