KUWAIT LAGS BEHIND IN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

  • 28/09/2022

Kuwait City: At home and abroad, there are two contradictory scenes: Saudi Arabia and its neighbours are stepping up efforts to attract tourists from around the world by streamlining the process of obtaining entry visas to their countries. Kuwait stays put and occasionally even regresses, particularly in light of recent actions to halt the issuance of all types of tourist and business visas, including visas to join a family; in addition to the years-long failure to develop the mechanism for this type of visa. 


The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a "digital embassy" that is skilled at approving a visa application submitted electronically without the need to appear in person, in contrast to Kuwait where the visa validity period is limited to three months. Kuwait requires lengthy and complicated procedures to obtain a tourist visa, and getting one electronically is only available to certain nationalities. 

Additionally, Kuwaiti expatriates are currently unable to secure visas for their children who were born abroad to travel back with their mothers, whereas Saudi Arabia's new procedures allow for the rapid issuance of visas for both tourism and Umrah. The same is true for visitor visas, which are scarce in Kuwait for a variety of reasons, including the lack of an organised strategy to draw visitors.

 In Saudi Arabia, where it is now possible to travel there for vacation and perform the Umrah at the same time, the situation is entirely different. The official visa platform and approval on the website of the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs (the "digital embassy") are the new procedures in Saudi Arabia for applying for visas. 

Additionally, steps have been taken in the United Arab Emirates to simplify the visa and residency application processes. These actions have been taken for a while and are still being taken. Foreigners of all nationalities may now apply for a multiple-entry tourist visa that is valid for five years from the date of issuance without the need for a guarantor or host inside the nation, as long as their stay does not exceed 90 days per year.

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