Following a citizen's complaint and warning of its significant negative effects, the government performance follow-up agency has raised the issue of "sparkling wells" in farms again.

The Director of the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) Mishaal Al-Quraifa revealed a request to form a joint quadruple committee comprising of PAAAFR, the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Electricity and Water, and the Environment Public Authority to develop a mechanism that confines those wells to Wafra farms, and warns them of immediate closure, reports Al-Rai daily.

In a press statement, Al-Qarifa explained that the Council of Ministers instructed the Ministry of Electricity and Water to form the required committee, with its chairmanship and membership of the concerned authorities, stressing that “Whoever refuses to implement this mechanism, a block will be placed on his transactions, and agricultural support will be suspended until his legal status is modified.” This comes in light of the interaction of the government performance follow-up agency with a complaint sent by the Head of the Sabah Al-Ahmad Residential City Committee Turki Al-Osaimi, in which he called on the agency to “urge the concerned authorities to stop this environmental and material crime in the national wealth and the loss of citizens in relation to the repercussions of the sparkling wells.”

The agency asked PAAAFR and EPA, each in its jurisdiction, to set up a mechanism to deal with the violating Wafra farms whose owners dug up sparkling wells, which caused an impact on the groundwater level and led to problems between neighbors as a result of the excess water that is disposed of outside the farm. This salty water seeps into other farms, which leads to damage to those farms and drowning of their crops, in addition to the formation of lakes on the streets between the farms that spread diseases and bad smells, and damage roads.

PAAAFR noticed this phenomenon spreading among farms, as the owners of some Wafra farms dig sparkling wells, some of which reach depths of 80 meters, in the issue of February 15. It is a clear violation of the EPA law, and the latter has been asked to fulfill its role and achieve its objectives.

 A year after the application of the KD 800 fee, in parallel with the implementation of the Kuwaitization policy in government agencies and the crackdown on marginal labor, a recent statistic revealed that 178,919 expatriates left the country in the year 2022.

According to the statistics issued by the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI), the total number of final exits by holders of undergraduate certificates who are of ages 60 years old and above amounted to 17,891 expatriates due to their inability to pay the fees estimated at KD 800. The number of expatriate workers aged 60 years and over reached 104,645 as of mid-2022 from about 122,536 in mid-2021.

There is also a noticeable decrease in university degree holders from 155,665 in mid-2021 to 146,942 in mid-2022. In addition, the number of postgraduates also decreased from 7,213 in mid-2021 to 6,912 in the middle of 2022. The total number of expatriate workers in the middle of the year 2022 amounted to 2 million and 718 thousand and 803 expatriates. Their number in 2021 was about 2 million and 897 thousand and 522 expatriates, which means that about 178,919 expatriates left Kuwait permanently within a year.

According to official data, the percentage of expatriates working in the government sector in Kuwait is the highest among the Gulf countries, with about 23 percent of the total government employees, reports Al- Rai daily. According to the latest statistics of the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI), the number of workers in the public sector amounted to about 483,200 employees, of whom 372,800 are Kuwaitis, constituting about 77 percent of the total, and about 110,400 are expatriates.

The total number of Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis working in the public and private sectors in Kuwait amounted to about 1.91 million. Among them, about 75 percent work in the private sector, and the remaining 25 percent in the public sector. As for other GCC countries, the number of workers in the government sector in Saudi Arabia has reached about 1.7 million, of whom about 90.8 percent are Saudis and only 9.1 percent are expatriates, according to data from the General Authority for Statistics in Saudi Arabia. In Bahrain, the number of public sector employees reached about 39.8 thousand workers, of whom Bahrainis constitute 85 percent and expatriates 14.6 percent, according to the latest data of the Labor Market Regulatory Authority in Bahrain. In the UAE, the number of workers in the public sector reached about one million employees with 89 percent Emiratis and 11 percent expatriates, according to data from the official portal of the UAE government.

In the Sultanate of Oman, the number of government workers reached about 393,000, of whom Omanis constitute about 89 percent, and expatriates only 11 percent, according to the electronic census data in the Sultanate, which is a central statistical data system linking various databases of government and private agencies. No detailed data were available regarding the employment structure of the public sector in the State of Qatar. Based on these data, the percentage of expatriates working in the public sector in Kuwait is the highest in the Gulf (23 percent). Bahrain comes in second with 14.6 percent, followed by the UAE and Oman with 11 percent, and then Saudi Arabia with 9.1 percent.By Najeh Bilal Al-Seyassah Staff

 It is finally here. The day the Indian female cricketers, fans and people in the fraternity have waited for years is March 4, 2023. The date where it all begins. It all? The revolution that is Women’s Premier League.

One might ask is calling something that hasn’t begun revolution a bit much, a bit brave? It might be, but given the way, franchise-based T20 leagues have transformed the men’s game in the past decade, it surely is one. And before even it has begun, the WPL has already changed so many lives. For far too long female cricketers in the domestic circuit were getting to play 15 -20 white-ball matches at best with a match fee of Rs 20,000 per day.

On February 13, 2023, it all changed. Cricketers, who had to fight not just financial struggles, but also societal as they chose this sport as a career growing up, finally had their big day. Whether it is Anjali Sarvani or Amanjot Kaur or Minnu Mani, the list goes on — the money they got in the auction is the validation they got for their journeys up until this point.

However, but this tournament is more than just that. Ask Sneha Deepthi, who will be playing for Delhi Capitals, what it means to be the only Indian mother in WPL. In a chat with this daily last year, she spoke about her journey back to cricket after having a child and what she wants to accomplish.

To be precise, it is a platform for Indian cricketers to showcase their talents in front of a bigger audience, to share dressing rooms with global superstars for a month, watch them train, pick their brains and learn from them is going to be invaluable. Ask Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who has spoken on the impact overseas leagues had on her on several occasions.

In hindsight, this has come a few years too late. In fact, the idea of the exhibition match for women was floated around 2010 — it eventually happened only in 2018 — but with the off-field controversies, it was pushed back. That said, it is never too late to start a good thing. And as the tournament promo song goes, ‘Ye to bas shuruaat hai’ (this is just the beginning).

Despite the recent warm weather, experts warned that the cold season has not ended, and temperatures will return to a drop.

The season of Bayaa al-Khabal Abata, which coincides with cold waves and a decrease in temperatures, will start next Saturday, March 4, said meteorologist Issa Ramadan, explaining that "the old man's cold days will end next Friday."

Ramadan stated that «temperatures do not always decrease every year in this season, as some expect, but may or may not happen, and these seasons depend on the waves of cold air fronts, and it is expected that the temperatures will not decrease, but will instead stay about their average. Rather, it is somewhat higher than its natural rate in open areas.

In the days of the (Baya al-Khabal Abata) season and beyond, he predicted temperatures to range between 24 and 32 degrees, as the weather is expected to continue to warm during the day during the month of March, with a possibility of some rain next Wednesday..”

Al Hamra Shopping Center unveiled a macaron display in the shape of the Kuwaiti flag that was recorded as the largest in the world. The display, which was part of Al Hamra’s national celebrations campaign of February, was officially recognized by Guinness World Records on Thursday, February 23rd.

Located at Al Hamra Shopping Center, the display was done in collaboration with Roonz and was sponsored by Ordable. It featured a total of 9,600 macarons and took 9 employees a total of 260 working hours to prepare, breaking a record that has remained unbeaten since 2013. This delectable work of art was available for viewing until February 25th, 2023.

Informed sources said that the Public Authority for Manpower is about to check the qualifications of residents in the country who hold the title “accountant” in addition to some professions in the area of finance, reports Al-Qabas daily. The sources stated that the step will begin after the approval of the work plan, and it includes all valid and registered work permits between March and December 2023, provided that the audit process is automatic, and includes approximately 16,000 residents working in the accounting professions.

The sources went on to say, that the Occupational Safety Center in the authority will study the special educational qualifications for residents who hold titles in the field of accounting, indicating that this step is the second step in adjusting the demographics.

The committee also completed the “Kuwait Visa” application for verifying visas issued for workers coming to Kuwait, and those obtaining “commercial and tourist” visas that are issued through the electronic platform.

The sources stated that the issuance of non-transferable commercial visas into a work permit has finally been reactivated, in addition to allowing visitors of different nationalities residing in the GCC countries. In addition to certain nationalities that are allowed to issue electronic visas without the requirement of residency in the GCC countries, there are 20 professions that can enter Kuwait from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, provided that they have a valid residency exceeding 6 months, and a passport valid for the same period.

These residents can enter the country with their families and domestic workers, provided that the person concerned (the applicant) is present. The four steps to adjust the labor market — trapping random workers, auditing of professionals, intensive campaigns to apprehend violators and fighting visa dealers and fictitious companies.

A global traffic index, "Tom Tom", revealed that 10 km in Kuwait takes 12 and a half minutes, while the average speed during rush hour is 44 km/h and the average driver spends 106 hours in rush hour every year.

Kuwait City ranked 273 globally, 30 among Asian countries, and 8 among Gulf countries in the traffic index, which measures average congestion on the world's roads, making it one of the least crowded cities worldwide, reports Al-Rai.

The annual “Tom Tom” index stated that the Maps and Technology Service Department of the index issued the “Annual Global Traffic Index”, which showed that driving a car in most cities in the world is a very expensive process.

The index found that London was still the worst city to travel within by car, taking an average of 36 minutes to cover a distance of 10 kilometres, nearly two minutes more than the previous year. The Indian city of Bengaluru ranked second with a time of 29 minutes to cover the same distance.

New York City appeared for the first time on the index list as the first American city in it, as it ranked 19th with an average time of 24.5 minutes to travel a distance of 10 km, while cities such as Washington, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago came in close ranks.

The city of Orlando came in second with a time of 10 minutes and 20 seconds to cover the same distance, while Oklahoma recorded the shortest time of 8.4 minutes.

Kuwait’s Public Authority for Manpower launched Tuesday “smart employee ID” identity within the Kuwait Mobile ID app, containing the expatriate employees’ official information, as part of a host of decisions aiming to regulate labor market and curb fraud and manipulation.

The Public Authority for Manpower mentioned in statement that this decision, protecting Kuwaiti households as well as workers from exploitation, came as per the instructions of First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Talal Khaled Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

The electronic ID includes the worker’s legal standing, work permit data, address of the employing company, whether they work within the public or private sectors. It also allows Kuwaiti households to look into the domestic worker’s official information prior to their arrival at the residence, underlining the necessity of authenticating employees electronic IDs, as well as keeping a copy of the data through scanning the QR code. It also urged private sector companies to assign employees to their correct jobs as per the Gulf labor guide, to avoid violations of labor laws and resolutions. (KUNA)

The celebrations during national holidays were unfortunate because of reckless behavior by some participants who not only disturbed passers-by and exposed them to danger, using pistols and water balloons, which caused injuries to about 200 people many of them eye injuries, particularly motorists who were caught unaware, according to health sources. The Al-Qabas daily quoting health sources said most of the injuries were related to eyes causing by the throwing on water-filled balloons and even some pelted stones in what can be termed a pure case of vandalism.

The uncivilized behavior has met with public and parliamentary resentment and widespread criticism from human rights activists, who consider the recurrence of these acts annually is evidence of the absence of planning and administrative and organizational failure, in addition to moral and ethical imbalance and lack of deterrence. Among the most prominent uncivilized manifestations, which Al-Qabas monitored on the ground, was disturbing families with water pistols and terrorizing people with children and teenagers throwing balloons filled with water and pelting stones at cars, and the unfortunate scene culminated in the accumulation of garbage, and the evidence of this is that the Municipality collected about 140 tons of waste that the celebrants left behind in the streets. Health sources told the daily the emergency departments in hospitals received the injured in their eyes, and some of them were treated at the sites, noting that the balloons and water sprayers used by children and adolescents were ‘fired’ from close distances towards pedestrians or vehicles drivers, which caused direct and serious eye injuries, and that resulted in many of them being rushed to hospitals.

The Eye Departments Council in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Ahmed Al-Foudari told Al-Qabas that the ophthalmology departments in the various hospitals of the ministry received many patients. He revealed that 36 corneal abrasions, internal bleeding and bruising cases were recorded at the Muhammad AbdulRahman Al-Bahr Eye Center from Friday morning to Saturday evening, and 18 corneal abrasions, a cut wound in the eyebrow and a trauma in the retina, in Farwaniya Hospital, and 21 corneal abrasions in Farwaniya Hospital, Al-Adan 5 similar injuries in Al-Jahra Hospital, and 8 in Jaber Hospital during the same period. In addition, deputies expressed their regret at “reckless behavior that is not appropriate for the civilized face of the country, and indicates an administrative and organizational failure.”

The whole Arabian Gulf Street was filled with children who stood guard armed with their water-filled balloons and water pistols during the holidays – an annoying act that is repeated at every celebration of the National and Liberation Days. The children usually use water balloons and pistols targeting cars – an uncivilized behavior that spoils the national celebration every year. Although the Ministry of Interior put up a security fence to prevent pedestrians from moving on the roads, this did not deter unruly children who deliberately sprayed water inside vehicles. Some people took advantage of the national holidays to sell waterfilled balloons and water pistols – KD10 for 100 balloons and KD2 for a water pistol.

Fireworks festival kicked off at the Kuwait Towers this evening. The sky turned into picturesque paintings with unparalleled creativity in which colors, music and patriotic songs spread joy and happiness marking the end of Kuwait’s celebration of its national holiday under the slogan Glory and Pride.

Information security expert and head of the Cybersecurity Committee in the Kuwaiti Electronic Media Federation, Muhammad Al-Rashidi, confirmed that “the decision is a natural measure to protect employees from espionage practiced by Tik Tok after the application employees themselves admitted to indulging in such activities, reports Al-Rai daily. He said in a statement to the that “Tik Tok has admitted to the US Senate the ability of employees in China to access data, following which the Senate slapped a ban on the application.

He added, “we will see stricter measures that may end up with the removal of the application from the Apple Store store.” Suspicious practices carried out by this application, perhaps for advertising or other purposes, but there is espionage based on application users, and this is the reason behind the action taken by the European Commission and accepted by the US Senate.

Al-Rashidi described this procedure as “a security measure, in light of the ability of employees in China to access sensitive data in America and Europe, which poses a great threat to European and American national security.”

Director of the Department of Public Hygiene and Road Works at the Hawally Municipality Faisal Al-Otaibi says the department is fully prepared to follow up the process of cleaning and removing waste following the National Day celebrations, reports Al-Rai daily.

In a press statement he issued during the field tour he recently held, Al-Otaibi explained that 550 workers were equipped with cleaning tools and sent to the sites of celebration within Hawally Governorate, in addition to 16 ordinary lorries, 4 trailers, 2 cranes, 8 large blowers, 4 medium bulldozers, 40 containers of sizes 240 liters and 1,100 liters.

The containers were distributed to the security points, where coordination was made with the cleaning companies contracting with the municipality to clean the green spaces and parking lots overlooking the Arabian Gulf Street and the surrounding streets from the beginning of the Messila Bridge to the Third Ring Road. In addition, two lorries were placed in front of each security point on the Arabian Gulf Street.

Director of the Special Contracts Department at the Ministry of Health Maryam Al-Shehab announced coordination with the Ministry of Interior for establishing an electronic link between the two ministries for the issuance of “Good Conduct” certificate for the new recruits from the medical, technical and nursing cadres who were contracted externally, reports Al-Anba daily.

In a press statement, she explained that the link aims to develop work, speed up completion, save time and effort, cancel the paper system, and adopt an “electronic fingerprint” system to facilitate procedures for new contractors.

A website has been created for the implementation of the “electronic fingerprint” mechanism for new appointees, in coordination with the Director of the General Department of Criminal Evidences Colonel Saadoun Al-Barghash.

Al-Shehab praised the efforts of the General Department of Criminal Evidences to overcome all obstacles in this regard.

She indicated that the previous system used to take time and effort, as it required giving the contracting person an official letter issued by the Ministry of Health to the General Department of Criminal Evidences to take the person’s fingerprint and then provide the ministry with his criminal record, which should be clean so that he can complete the contracting procedures and be granted residency. This used to take a lot of time and effort and required the parties concerned to coordinate with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Interior several times in order to complete the procedures.

Al-Shehab affirmed that the new step comes within the framework of the Ministry of Health’s direction to activate e-government and coordinate between state ministries and all competent authorities electronically.

Regarding the local contract, Al-Shehab stressed that applying for a “Good Conduct” certificate can be done through the “Sahel” app without the need for any letters from the Ministry of Health.

On February 25th of every year, the Kuwaiti people, with sentiments of pride and gratification, reminisce the day when their country had become independent to move from its glorious past to an honorable present and bright future. This year’s 62nd anniversary of the National Day coincides with the celebration of the 32nd anniversary of the liberation of Kuwait from the Iraqi invasion, marking historical stages where the country managed to overcome major challenges thanks to the sagacity of its leadership, people’s solidarity and sisterly and friendly countries’ support.

On June 19, 1961, Kuwait gained independence, putting an end to the Anglo-Kuwaiti Agreement of 1899, followed by a decree on May 18, 1961 to conjoin the National Day and the Amir’s ascension celebration into one event marked every year on February 25th.Historically, then Amir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah saw that the Anglo-Kuwait agreement — signed by the late Amir Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah and the British — had ran its course in terms of protecting Kuwait from external threats considering recent international development at the time. Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem, since ascending to power in 1950, had made calculated steps to ensure the independence of the country and usher a new era of a constitutional state leading to vast development in various domains.

The very first celebration of independence was on June 19, 1962, a joyous event that was attended by a large number of officials and citizens, with Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem having delivered a speech in commemoration of the event, calling on the people of Kuwait to venture forward into a future governed by justice, social equity and welfare for all. Over the past 62 years, Kuwait has made impressive accomplishments at all levels as per a forward-looking plan set out by its shrewd leaderships and good governments, primarily aiming at achieving national development and playing a crucial role in regional and international affairs. Since its independence, the State of Kuwaiti has adopted a balanced foreign policy based on opening-up, communication and belief in peace, friendship, human development and economic prosperity.

Kuwait has also forged firm relationships with sisterly and friendly countries thanks to its wise policies and impressive role in the promotion of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) march, inter-Arab cooperation and international peace and security efforts pursuant to the UN, Arab League, Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Non-Aligned Movement. Under the sagacious leadership of His Highness the Amir and His Highness the Crown Prince, Kuwait has been pursuing its endeavor to push forward the national development process, to maintain stability and prosperity and to keep working with other countries in order to ensure security and peace worldwide. Furthermore, Kuwait has always been eager to build closer relations with world countries in a bid to stave off disputes and wars and to resolve problems by peaceful means.

The Ministry of Interior has called on all citizens and residents to follow the traffic guidelines and not to cover the entire body of the vehicle during the celebration of national holidays.

The Public Relations and Security Media Department of the Ministry of Interior has stressed, in a press statement, the necessity of not shading or covering the vehicle’s windows, not covering the vehicle’s license plate, and not allowing children to hang out of the windows during the celebrations, in order to ensure the safety of all.

The Public Authority for Civil Information said the Civil ID home delivery service will resume work after completing the bidding procedures for companies the closure date for which has been postponed to March 9, 2023, reports Al-Qabas daily.

During the meeting with the bidding companies for the delivery of civil cards, PACI stressed on the necessity to deliver 3 to 6 thousand cards daily to those who prefer to receive their Civil IDs at their preferred addresses.

The authority pointed out that the value of the delivery of one civil card will be two dinars only, and the value will not be increased, provided that the amount for the authority is deducted from the value of the card, and an amount of 250 fils is allocated as a fee for each additional card for the same address without a fee being received by the civil information.

The sources emphasized that “it is forbidden to use laborers to deliver orders other than the employees of the company that wins the tender to deliver these cards”.

An information security expert and Head of the Cybersecurity Committee at the Kuwait Electronic Media Union Muhammad Al-Rashidi warned against a spreading virus, which is a ransomware link claiming to be a video clip of scenes of the earthquake that recently struck Turkey and Syria, revealing that a number of Kuwaiti companies have fallen victim to this virus, and sums have been requested in order to decode its encryption, reports Al-Rai daily.

In a press statement, Al-Rashidi said, “Once the link is opened, all files are encrypted and money is requested in exchange for decrypting this encryption.

Hackers are taking advantage of global events to encrypt files, use social engineering, and make fake links about global events such as earthquakes. When people click the link, the device is hacked and given a 24-hour deadline with the threat that in the event of non-payment, all the files in the device will be completely destroyed, either personal or company files.”

When asked what steps have to be taken in such cases, Al-Rashidi said, “Payment is a big mistake because there is no guarantee of decryption after payment. We recommend resorting to international companies specialized in decryption to reopen it. This may cost large sums, but it is better than paying hackers.”

He added, “Dealing with ransomware (malicious software) is based on the user’s awareness, which is the biggest bulwark, because there is no one ready to protect himself from such attempts.”

Al-Rashidi advised all technology users to the effect, “Do not download unofficial programs or advertisements for free links to paid programs.”

 With the ongoing efforts of government agencies to cleanse the labor market from claimants of various professions, the Public Authority of Manpower (PAM), with the cooperation of the Kuwait Society of Engineers, has taken practical steps to control the market and verify academic qualifications, especially engineering certifications, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The Kuwait Society of Engineers recently received 5,248 applications to evaluate the qualifications of engineers for approval with PAM’s cooperation.

At the same time, the qualifications of 16,000 residents working as accountants or related professions are under scrutiny.

According to data obtained by the daily, the Kuwait Society of Engineers recently discovered 81 certificates that did not comply with accreditation requirements, seven of which were forged, of which 16 certificates were of Egyptian expatriates and 14 of Indian expatriates.

The data showed that Indians and Egyptians are the top nationalities that submitted requests for the approval of the qualification recently, representing 70 percent of the total applicants.

In a similar context, Head of the Kuwait Society for Engineers Faisal Al-Otol revealed the intention to form a national accreditation council with members from a group of government agencies to test the engineers.

Regarding the approval of engineering certificates coming from India, Al-Otol said Kuwait’s position is firm in terms of granting the title of “engineer” in the work permits of non-Kuwaitis, as it is done according to a unified mechanism that is applied online, with the exception of matching the ratifications of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He stressed that India’s request to adopt special treatment for its nationals is not possible, and that the society does not mind expanding the accreditation lists from India, provided that it is compatible with the requirements of the labor market and provides the required skills.

Al-Otol highlighted that the mechanism for dealing with all nationalities is the same, and that verifying the authenticity of the certificate has become an imperative necessity.

He said, “The society fulfilled this task and lifted the government’s burden of this performance without charging it with anything.”

Al-Otol said he hopes there will be an end to the recruitment of freshly graduated engineers from abroad, as the principle is to bring in experienced people.

With the fasting month of Ramadan around the corner, the price monitoring team of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, carried out a proactive campaign on the markets selling dates, food commodities, and mills in the Shuwaikh area to view and control prices, reports Al-Qabas daily. Acting Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Muhammad Al-Enezi, told the daily strict measures are being taken to protect consumers’ rights and monitor prices, especially in cooperative societies and supermarkets, and to prevent artificial rise in prices.

Al-Enezi mentioned that the focus is on cooperative societies to control prices, especially since they represent 80 percent of the consumer market, indicating that the work of field teams is continuing and that the goal of monitoring the market is to protect consumers from artificial prices. The director of the technical apparatus for supervising commodities at the Ministry of Commerce, Faisal Al-Ansari, pointed out that work continues to monitor prices especially during the blessed month of Ramadan.

Travel agencies in Kuwait have witnessed a great turnout of citizens and residents the past few days to book flights during the national holiday, which led to over 200 percent increase in the ticket prices of several destinations. Several specialists in the tourism sector have told KUNA on Wednesday that the most desired destinations to go to during the holiday are GCC countries, Turkey, London, Cairo and Beirut. Director of the Operational Lines Network Planning and Distribution Department at Kuwait Airways Shoroq Al-Awadhi told KUNA that the prices of flight tickets of all airlines are demanded locally and internationally.

The most demanded destinations currently on Kuwait airways are Turkey, GCC countries and relatively close countries to Kuwait due to the short holiday, added Al-Awadhi, noting that the turnout on flying on Kuwait airways have increased since adding new destinations and increasing its flights.

In a similar statement to KUNA, Director of Al-Maktab traveling agency Nassib Adnan said that the number of people wanting to travel during the national holiday have increased to reach 90 percent, alongside the significant increase in ticket prices for several destinations. For his part, tourism specialist Kamal Kabsha told KUNA that the travel demand for London, Cairo, Riyadh, Jeddah and Dubai during the national holidays have exceeded expectations, noting that the demand for Istanbul have declined after the recent earthquake. Meanwhile, the sales of travel and tourism agencies in Kuwait increased by about 75 percent during the year 2022 to KD 276.71 million from KD 157.83 million in 2021, reports Al-Rai daily quoting informed sources.

They explained that the revenues of the travel and tourism agencies increased during the past year by about 338 percent to KD 276.7 million from KD 63.22 million in 2020 when the COVID-19 crisis hit various countries of the world including Kuwait.

The crisis had caused the shutdown of the airport and quarantine procedures imposed on arriving passengers. It also led to a significant drop in the air traffic despite discounts on flight tickets and hotels in various destinations, which threatened many travel and tourism offices with bankruptcy and failure, and resulted in the dismissal of a large number of their employees.

The trend of the travel agency sales index in Kuwait was upward from January 2021 until the end of December 2022, with the fading of the COVID-19 crisis and the opening of the appetite of citizens and residents to travel after long periods of interruption.