Kuwait has announced a phased approach towards recovery and reopening of businesses. The country has shared a five-phase approach towards reopening, with each phase lasting for three weeks and success determining the start of the next phase.
“Since shopping malls are temporarily closed, it is difficult to gauge consumer confidence at this point. However, informal discussions with tenants and customers make us confident that the rebound in Kuwait will be very good as long as shopping malls and tenants make shoppers feel safe, which our tenants and we are working hard at and will ensure.”
“Kuwait is not dependent much on tourism and external customers, which will further boost recovery,” – Avijit Yadav, CEO, Tamdeen Mall Management – representing shopping malls such as 360 Mall and Al Kout.
“Having said that, overall, the fear of the virus has negatively impacted consumer confidence. From the markets that are gradually reopening in the GCC, footfall and sales are still in the range of 25-30%, as per tenants that operate across countries. However, there are cases of footfall increasing to over 50% and some categories are doing better than others,” – Yadav concluded.
