he government of Kuwait has decided to adopt tourism as part of its development policy. Hence the tourism board was established within the organisational structure of the Ministry of Information and thus regaining its membership in the World Tourism Organization (WTO).

The Tourism Board has started taking steps to activate this development policy. It is expected that an international consulting firm, which the tourism board will work with, will start the Kuwait National Tourism Master Plan in the up-coming period under the supervision of the WTO in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as well as the Ministry of Planning.

The Assistant Under-Secretary, Nabila Al Anjari, stated that Kuwait has started to develop its tourist infrastructure. Currently, the Kuwait International Airport is being expanded to accommodate more visitors. That's in addition to opening new hotels and resorts on all levels as it is expected that the hotel capacity will increase by 1000 rooms to reach 4000 rooms in 2004 including International Branded Hotels (Crowne Plaza, J W Marriott, Radisson SAS, Sheraton, Safir International, Hilton, Kempinski, Movenpick, Four Points, Courtyard, Meridien, Marina, Holiday Inn)

Al Anjari added: "Kuwait will witness special tourist projects during the next five years, in which Kuwait's Islands will be developed and tourist projects will be constructed in Failaka and Bubiyan islands through a specialised panel, comprising the Divided Zone Agreements and Kuwait Islands and Mega Projects Development Team, which the government has created lately.

It is expected that the new tourism policy to encourage foreign investments in Kuwait, which has been ratified recently, will attract foreign investments in tourist projects.

Due to the aspirant plans and projects, it has been noticed that Kuwait has been participating in most tourism exhibitions in order to increase the number of visitors by promoting the country and offering special weekend packages throughout the year for citizens and residents as well as tourist groups and visitors from other countries. What's more, Kuwait Airways' director of marketing and sales, Khalid Al Tayyar, stated that Kuwait Airways participates with the Kuwait tourism board and the hotels in all exhibitions and offers the necessary facilitation and special packages.