Russia-Ukraine war affected traveling to some destinations

The political situation in Europe has affected travelling to some destinations from Kuwait during this past national holiday season, which also witnessed varying price ranges for flights to some popular destinations. “We had many reservations to Russia that were canceled due to the present situation,” a travel agent told Kuwait Times. “Also, few tickets to Poland and Romania were canceled. On the other hand, there is no demand to Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, the price of some airlines’ tickets hiked to triple from the regular range during the national holidays. The ticket to Turkey for instance reached over KD 250. On the other hand, tickets to some destinations, such as the Philippines, dropped to almost their regular prices before the pandemic.

According to different local travel agencies, travelling is getting back to normal, but it is still yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. “If I compare the bookings in February 2022 to February 2019, the rate reached about 70 percent. After lifting most of the health precautions especially allowing unvaccinated Kuwaiti citizens to travel, and the opening of many destinations that were closed to tourists has helped refresh the travel sector,” Hani from Viano travel agency told Kuwait Times.

“The price of tickets hiked by about 300 percent for some popular destinations during these holidays. The most popular destinations are Turkey and Dubai, as those are suitable for short holidays. On the other hand, some destinations such as the United States is only popular in summer, as people travel there to spend at least a month or more,” he added.

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