Kuwait
Kuwait
Travellers from Kuwait made 4.4 million outbound visits in 2019, with a total international tourism expenditure of US$15.8 billion.
In 2022, the UK welcomed 121,335 visits from Kuwait. During the travellers’ visits, their total expenditure was £304.61 million, with an average spend of £2,510 per person.
Discover visitor behaviour, travel trade insights, detailed data visualisations for this market – and more. The statistics in this market report are collated from a range of sources such as the Office for National Statistics (ONS), as well as sponsored questions and our own research. For further details, see How we source this information.
Explore the inbound data in full
Use our visualisations to see data from this market in greater depth and clarity. Compare annual statistics, and filter by age group, gender, trip duration and more. Includes seasonality, trip purpose and regional spread of visitors to UK destinations. This data is based on the International Passenger Survey, conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
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Global context
Top-level statistics relating to the population, GDP, tourism expenditure and popular destinations for this market. For greater detail on inbound tourism flows from this market to the UK, see our data visualisations.
Measure | 2019 |
International tourism expenditure (US$bn) | 15.8 |
Global rank for international tourism expenditure | 23 |
Number of outbound visits (m) | 4.4 |
Most visited destination | Saudi Arabia |
Most visited destination in Western Europe | United Kingdom |
Key demographic and economic data
Measure | 2023 |
Population (m) | 4.3 |
GDP per capita PPP (US$) | 75,540 |
Annual average GDP growth over past decade (%) | 0.3 |
Annual GDP growth (%) | 1.6 |
Access to Britain from Kuwait
The key routes and transport modes that connect this market with the UK.
Measure | 2023 |
Weekly aircraft departures | 22 |
Weekly seat capacity | 6,239 |
Airports with direct routes in Kuwait | 1 |
Airports with direct routes in Britain | 2 |
Since 2009, seat capacity from Kuwait has increased by 65%.
In 2023, the highest share of departing seats came from the Kuwait airport to London Heathrow, with a 90% share.
Out of all airlines to operate the Kuwait to Britain route in 2023, Kuwait Airways served the most departing seats with a 74% share.
Flights from Kuwait International Airport now serve London Heathrow and Manchester International.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a 55% reduction in direct seat capacity from Kuwait to the UK in 2020.
In 2021, direct seat capacity was 70% behind pre-COVID levels and in 2022 it was 14% behind pre-COVID levels.
In 2023, direct seat capacity is set to exceed pre-pandemic levels by 9%.
The current reduced rate of Air Passenger Duty for visitors departing Britain for Kuwait is £87.
Kuwaiti nationals can pay £30 for a visa waiver to enter the UK.
Further resources
GCC Market Profile
GCC Market Profile
Kuwait Market Snapshot.pdf
Kuwait Market Snapshot
Kuwait Aviation Profile
Kuwait Aviation Profile
How we source this information
We work with a number of data sources to provide a rich and insightful picture of our key inbound source markets. This includes, but is not limited to, data provided by Oxford Economics, the UNWTO, Apex, Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index and from our own surveys and ad-hoc research. The largest share of the data come from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) by the ONS.
Visit our About the International Passenger Survey page for more information on how the data is collected and analysed.