'Kuwaitis spend more than $10 billion on traveling'

KUWAIT: Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and Acting Minister of Information delivers his speech during the forum

KUWAIT: The first Kuwaiti Youth and Tourism Forum helps boost the role of youth in sustainable development, achieve the required economic reforms and provide jobs, a Kuwaiti minister said yesterday.

Youth and tourism are interconnected by highly complex and interactive relationships, given the characteristics and features of joint activities that unite them, said Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and Acting Minister of Information.

This this requires the compilation of visions, ideas and views of various involved parties, he said; hence the critical importance of the forum that highlights the significance of the heightened role of youth in sustainable development, economic reforms, diversification of sources of income, promotion of non-oil sectors of income and provision of attractive opportunities for Kuwaiti graduates in an effort to address the unemployment rate among young people.

Sheikh Mohammad was speaking during the inauguration of the conference which kicked off yesterday at the Kuwait Regency Hotel under his patronage. The forum, which includes an exhibition, meetings and workshops, is organized by the tourism sector at the Ministry of Information and Leaders Group for Consulting and Development, in cooperation with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Pros and cons

Sheikha Al-Zain Al-Sabah, Undersecretary of the Ministry of State for Youth Affairs, said "many people see some places in Kuwait and feel they are not in Kuwait. We want to say it is Kuwait." She noted that Kuwait faces unemployment, erosion of heritage and decline in international indicators of development. But Kuwait also has many positives such as security, no taxes, the great Failaka Island, visitors from GCC countries, and open-mindedness. "We are open-minded," she said, "as Kuwaitis are active on social media that plays an integral role in today's world in shaping public and social opinions".

Sheikha Al-Zain stressed the need to cooperate for the success of this event and to achieve the hopes attached to it due to its close relationship with the dimensions of national development in all its different aspects. "Officials have to speed up the process of supporting and encouraging all opportunities for achieving youth aspirations."

Youth empowerment

Meanwhile, Nabila Al-Anjeri, head of the organizing committee and General Manager of Leaders Group for Consultancy and Development, stressed that the forum fits with the UN's new strategy to empower the youth in sustainable development for 2030. She highlighted the emergence of the 'millennial generation,' otherwise known as 'first-time travelers' or 'new generation travelers'. The term refers to people born at the beginning of the new century and are expected to join world travelers seeking new experiences, especially after the emergence of social media.

"The youth are now traveling alone. The discovery, fun and movement offered by tourism are fully compatible with the vitality, enthusiasm and curiosity among young people, where we have 270 million youth traveling alone yearly," Anjeri said. She pointed out that 90,000 jobs will be created by 2030 if Kuwait becomes active in the tourism sector. "Kuwaitis spend more than $10 billion on traveling outside. Kuwait's tourism revenue amounted to $500 million, while the United Arab Emirates' reached $10 billion. We have to promote tourism in Kuwait and hold a lot of training and workshops to develop this sector," she explained.

By Faten Omar