The sales of travel and tourism offices in Kuwait amounted to 106 million dinars during the first five months of this year (from January to May), down by about 7 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2022, when it reached 114.15 million at that time.
Informed sources told Al-Rai that it also recorded less sales by about 22.8 compared to the same period in 2019, when it reached 137.35 million dinars.
The sources confirmed that passenger numbers during the first 5 months of this year were close to what they reached in 2019 before the Corona crisis, indicating that the decline of about 7 percent represents what was booked through the Bank Settlement Plan (BSP) system for all airlines with full services, while it does not reflect what is booked by low cost airlines.
The sources pointed out that passenger statistics issued by the General Administration of Civil Aviation show that the share of low-cost airlines out of the total number of passengers amounted to about 40 percent, while the share reached 60 percent for full-service airlines.
The sources reported that there is a significant shift to travel via low-cost airlines, due to many of the destinations that these lines fly to.
The sources pointed out that the number of passengers from Kuwait amounted to 549.2 thousand passengers on various airlines from January to April 2023, as the share of low-cost airlines reached 222.4 thousand passengers, while their number reached 322.36 thousand for full-service airlines.
The sources mentioned that the number of travel offices in Kuwait has reached 430 and explained that the monthly losses of these offices during the “Corona” from sales were approximately 34 million dinars.
The sources pointed to the high demand for travel in the summer, pointing out that large numbers of travelers had booked their reservations early to take advantage of cheap prices.