Expensive prices, hot weather behind travel uptick during summer

By Majd Othman

KUWAIT: Summer season in Kuwait is a high season for traveling among citizens and residents, mostly due to the scorching heat and dearth of entertainment places, which are also overpriced. Although the government recently directed responsible authorities to accelerate major entertainment projects, they are not ready yet to attract people to spend the summer in Kuwait, one of the hottest places in the world. Kuwait Times asked people about the main reasons that drive them to travel every year.

Expat Eman Abdullah said she has lived in Kuwait her entire life and used to travel rarely. But in the last couple of years, she has visited several countries for tourism, mainly due to the extreme high temperature and foul weather in Kuwait in the last couple of years. Eman pointed out that entertainment places have to be available for the new generation, as Kuwait used to have leading projects in this field, and she and her generation lived a full life during the previous era.

“To be logical, opening new entertainment places for adults and children during the recent climatic changes affecting Kuwait might not be the best solution or choice for the country to improve internal tourism, unless these projects are built in a way to adapt to climate change,” she said. Citizen Sabeha Jassem told Kuwait Times she and her grandchildren are suffering from the heat and expenses. “My grandchildren’s bodies are adapting to this climate, which is very different than what we used to live with before.

Also, because they are used to seeing joyful places in other countries, they feel there is nothing to do in Kuwait,” she said. “If we don’t travel, we are forced to take them to play areas inside malls in Kuwait, which are very expensive, as we pay for each child double the amount we spend on them abroad. This is also one of the main reasons why many people prefer to travel,” Jassem stressed. “Climate change is an issue we cannot control, but we can control having better entertaining projects for our children, or at least the government should limit the prices for play areas to be affordable for all segments of society,” she added.

A recent report showed Kuwait is among the most affordable countries for expats and citizens to live in compared to other regional countries. An Indian father of two, who asked to remain anonymous, said traveling is a better choice for him than staying in Kuwait due to the increase in prices at entertainment places.

“Climate change is not a big issue compared to price hikes, which many in Kuwait cannot afford, whether expats or even Kuwaitis,” he said. He agreed that Kuwait is affordable for people with regards to basic needs, “but in the matter of entertainment places and other things, it is overpriced”.

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