ShareBy Majd Othman
KUWAIT: The Kuwait Festival Association, headed by Tariq Eid Al-Obaid, held a celebration on the occasion of the launch of the “Discover Kuwait” online tourism platform, with the aim of stimulating domestic tourism by introducing the most important entertainment and heritage places in Kuwait. The ceremony was attended by Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Information for the Kuwaiti Tourism Sector Saud Hamad Al-Khalidi, Chairman of the Union of Kuwaiti Travel and Tourism Offices Muhammad Lafi Al-Mutairi and a large crowd of those interested in the development of the tourism sector.
The celebration included signing a joint cooperation agreement between the Kuwait Festival Association and the Federation of Kuwaiti Travel and Tourism Offices related to “Discover Kuwait”, the online tourism platform project, in order to showcase various events, festivals and activities that stimulate tourism within the country.
Khalidi said the tourism sector at the ministry of information is a great supporter and an active partner in the “Discover Kuwait” platform, “which is one of the promising stages to activate tourism in Kuwait, which is considered one of the attractive countries for family tourism due to its distinguished tourism areas and services that need to be highlighted in the media”.
“We are all aware of the importance that the country attaches to revitalizing tourism through a series of regional, international and local agreements, in addition to projects and activities that would contribute to this by supporting the organization of events capable of being attractive in various artistic, cultural, commercial, shopping and other fields, as well as for the revitalization of tourism projects and other projects related to entertainment, which all fall within the framework of striving to diversify sources of national income, as tourism activities constitute a promising non-oil resource in the foreseeable future, which will be achieved through the concerted efforts of various concerned parties, given the importance of tourism in promoting economic and social gains,” Khalidi pointed out.
Obaid affirmed this ceremony inaugurates a new era of hard work and constructive cooperation to market Kuwait and make it one of the distinguished tourist destinations in the region by launching tourism initiatives, entertainment events and cultural and heritage activities to restore the leadership of Kuwait among neighboring sister countries, as it was before.
“Kuwait Festival Association is one of the civil organizations specialized in the field of festivals, tourism and entertainment, and seeks to be one of the most important specialized associations at the level of the GCC countries and the Arab region,” Obaid said, indicating that although the association is newly established, it has large initiatives with a global vision that aspires to be one of the active contributors with state institutions and the private sector to market Kuwait as a global gateway to international festivals in the region.
“It is a translation of the wise government’s work program (2022-2026) related to the social, tourism, entertainment and community partnership axis, as the program stipulated help from Kuwaiti civil organizations in presenting studies, research and initiatives, each in its field. Accordingly, the Kuwait Festival Association intends today to launch the tourism electronic text project ‘Discover Kuwait’ to display various events, festivals and activities, and stimulate domestic tourism and entertainment and heritage places in Kuwait, in which it aims to attract tourists and visitors to Kuwait from various regions and countries of the world in cooperation with the ministry of information and all concerned state institutions,” Obaid said.
He stressed the Kuwait Festival Association hopes for sustainable cooperation with the ministry of information and civil society institutions, as it is keen, according to its national mission aimed at reflecting the direction of the supreme political leadership and the decisions of the Cabinet, in activating the economic cycle, which includes reviving the tourism and entertainment field and developing it to be a support for the national economy and non-oil revenues, crystallizing a new culture related to tourism, entertainment and heritage based on a modern perspective that simulates the needs and desires of visitors to Kuwait and the aspirations of the country’s citizens and residents.
“The will of all parties came out of the sense of patriotism to work to find a formula of understanding through the joint work agreement to achieve this great and lofty goal, which is under the slogan The world visits Kuwait. These matters will not succeed except by unifying the efforts of all and harnessing collective action in order to achieve them,” Mutairi said. “It also comes with the importance of developing human capital, building capabilities and enhancing it, as it will have a willingness to unite efforts and work together in order to develop a new professional staff that will be trained and qualified with high-level qualifications,” he added.
“In the event of success in making Kuwait a leading tourist country, it will undoubtedly contribute in creating tens of thousands of job opportunities for the citizens of the country, who will be honored to work under the umbrella of this great national work and make Kuwait as it was in the past,” he concluded.
