5,000 employees to lose jobs

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 12: The corona crisis is still playing a major obstacle for the tourism and travel sector in Kuwait. It is one of the major prominent sectors and has received a severe blow as destinations to various countries remain to be shut which constitutes 85% of total traffic in Kuwait.  Many airlines have suspended and there has been a huge number of job losses.

The owners of travel agencies expressed great concern about the decline in flights, hotel reservation to some countries due to closure of airports. There are more than 450 travel agencies who are suffering  and are on verge of shutting, reports Al Anba. 18 Travel agencies have already shut permanently and about 40% of travel agencies are about to shut permanently in Kuwait. Around 5,000 jobs will be lost as companies are unable to pay their salaries due to significant decline in revenues.

One of the travel agency directors said that there are a number of factors that increased the plight of the travel agencies after the outbreak of the Corona pandemic. Complete shutting of Kuwait International Airport disrupted 85% of travel destinations, in addition to the decisions and fees imposed by the DGCA on the travel agencies of KD 500 for website or application or social media account in February plus another KD 500 as implementation fee. The 14 day quarantine period greatly affected the movement in arrival and departure. The recent decision to open up for domestic workers will give very little profit for travel agencies.

The director of Al-Khamis Travel and Tourism Company, Hani Fathallah, said that there are more than 450 agencies that are suffering and are on the edge of shutting because there is no business nor moral support for them. Plus these sectors are prohibited from borrowing by banks have affected them negatively and increased their losses. Selling online using e-commerce and due to competition selling under cost causes total damage to the sector. 40% of travel agencies operating in Kuwait will be shut permanently, 18 companies have already closed. 5,000 employees will lose their jobs as the travel agencies are already in large debt and they may find it difficult to get out of it.

The director of the Arif Al-Alati Travel Agency expected that the aviation sector will not withstand more than that with debts being accumulated on the owners of travel agencies, so we are asking officials to intervene quickly to try to stop the bleeding of this sector and support it with all available means.  Al-Allati suggested some solutions to revive the sector at present crisis by allowing citizens to choose the place of quarantine for their domestic workers according to their own circumstances and capabilities, and not within specific areas imposed on them by the state.

The director of Al-Ghandour Travel Company, Mustafa Ghandour, said that a large number of travel and tourism offices have closed their doors temporarily in an attempt to reduce their losses that they may incur, especially due to the rents and salaries of employees.