Tourists come from different destinations hence they are from different ethnical backgrounds. There are various issues that are related to interethnic relations when it comes to tourism. An example of a country that has become a tourist attraction is Kuwait. Kuwait has gone through a series of transformations to become what it is today. The society in Kuwait is a cosmopolitan one and quite modern yet it still remains true to its traditions and heritage. Kuwait’s situation is strongly related to the tourism and cultural clash in American Indian country. “When every effort was made to wipe out our culture and religion, we made adjustments to insure that there was an outward showing of compliance. We managed to keep our religion and culture going.” (Lujan 1998: 145). This means that there is a lot of cultural preservation among the people of Kuwait. Kuwait is a state which is highly urbanized offering a host of so many attractions and services for tourists who visit the country. There is a world class experience offered in hospitality through its hotel industry though small but quite strong. Kuwait boasts of a rich cultural heritage and tradition. It is some of these exotic cultures have become tourist attractions. Tourist ethnicity depends on earlier forms of constructed ethnicity and hence does not emerge as something that is fully fledged in response to tourism and roots in the early formulations of identity. Tourists get a glimpse of the existing tourists’ attractions which are quite fascinating. Kuwaitis are usually warm, hospitable, helpful and quite friendly which makes every visit to Kuwait quite memorable and enriching (Tourism in Kuwait ,2010).There has been a lot of global diffusion of white culture and institutions that accompany tourism create a very high deterministic form of ethnicity in tourism. The use of ethnicity in tourism whereby exotic cultures have become tourist attractions in countries like Kuwait.
Climate and weather are very important factors when it comes to making decisions by tourists. These also have an effect on the how successfully tourism businesses are operated. Therefore tourists and the tourism business are affected by weather conditions. There are certain climatic conditions in a country that can be favorable for tourists. For instance there are countries that experience extremely cold winters and very hot summers which might become unbearable for them. This leads to people running away from these harsh climatic conditions to other countries whose climate are conducive. Therefore we can conclusively say that weather affects the choice of a particular destination. The weather conditions tourists experience at their destination is also important. This is because weather conditions have an influence of how enjoyable their experience is (Tourism in Kuwait, 2010). This means that the satisfaction of the tourist is highly dependent on the weather. When looking at the impact of weather conditions on tourism industry in Kuwait we first have to look at the common weather conditions in Kuwait.
Kuwait city has a low latitude arid/sub tropical desert climate. This means that Kuwait is literally hot throughout the year. The summer which occurs in the months of April through September is quite hot. However between July and October it is normally very humid and hence quite unpleasant with the southerly winds. There are also some dust storms that occur in spring and late summer the occasional rain falls occurs between the months of November and April. The rainfall is quite light. The most pleasant time in Kuwait is in winter where the day temperatures go down to only 18 degrees. In fact the weather in Kuwait under the bioclimatic classification is almost like subtropical desert biome. The average temperatures in Kuwait are 25.7 degrees with an annual precipitation of 107.3mm.the annual sunshine averages are 3347 hours.
The best time to visit Kuwait is November to April. However the peak season is usually during spring which falls between March and April or the autumn season that falls in November. This is when the day temperatures might go down to almost 18 degrees while the night temperatures can go down. Temperatures of 18 degrees are quite favorable as compared to other temperatures in countries such as those in Europe during the same months. These temperatures are quite conducive for going for site seeing .therefore most of the people in Europe opt to visit Kuwait at this time of the year since they are trying to escape their harsh winter conditions (JourneyMart.com, 2013). However those who decide to visit Kuwait during summer are advised to stay away from direct sunlight. Severe hazards like dehydration, sunstroke and severe burns can be experienced. Summers are usually the off season with climates that are very hot and humid with temperatures going as high as 38 degrees. The summer storms that occur without rain are usually very unbearable. At time the temperatures can go up to 45 degrees. However during summer Kuwait registers fewer tourists .this is because the summer conditions are quite harsh and tourists opt to stay back in their countries where the weather is not that extreme. Winter months are also bearable in Kuwait which falls between December and February. This is especially for those who do not mind cold and wet climatic conditions. It is also worth noting that there are countries with extremely cold winters therefore temperatures of 15 degrees during winter are bearable to those where their countries of origin have their winter reach the negative Celsius mark (JourneyMart.com, 2013)
Tourists may be grouped into three broad categories along ethnic/nationality lines into Bidoon (without nationality), Arabs, and Asians (Shah 1996). As we have seen it means that Kuwait gets so many visitors in the peak seasons. However, when it comes to the tourist host relationships we can say that they are disproportional since tourists have a higher status due to their ability of travelling to these destinations. The tourist host relations are transient and it is unlikely that they are repeated hence providing opportunities for duplicity on both sides. Tourist-host interactions are conducted along wide cultural and linguistic interpretations. This is common with relations across race, class and ethnic divides, tourist host interactions are often vulnerable to stereotyping. This therefore means that the weather conditions in Kuwait really have an impact on the number of tourists who visit Kuwait. However As we have seen most tourists take their time to really examine the weather conditions in a country before embarking on their tour. As stated earlier weather conditions determine whether the tourists will enjoy their visit or they will not. This therefore implies that tourism is greatly affected by weather. Ethnicity in tourism has often been seen as a critical elemental attachment and as possessing immutability and firmness.
References
Tourism in Kuwait.(2010). Kuwait Travelers and Tourist Guide. Retrieved October 2, 2013 from http://tourism-in-kuwait.com/
JourneyMart.com. (2013). Best Time to Visit Kuwait City. Retrieved October 2, 2013 from
http://www.journeymart.com/de/kuwait/kuwait-city-best-time-to-visit.aspx
Hall, Colin Michael, and Alan A. Lew. "Introduction." Understanding and Managing Tourism Impacts: An Integrated Approach. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2009. 155 Print.
SHAH, NASRA M. "Health Policy and Planning." Ethnicity, Nationality and Health Care Accessibility in Kuwait: A Study of Hospital Emergency Room Users. N.p., 1996. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
http://heapol.oxfordjournals.org/content/11/3/319.short
