KUWAIT Touristic Enterprises Company (TEC) said it is launching a number of tourism, entertainment and sports projects to the tune of $460 million.

The state-owned firm’s deputy chairman and managing director, Khaled Al Ghanim, revealed that Kuwait’s Partnership Technical Bureau has declared the development of resorts, recreational facilities and a marina on Failaka Island as top priority projects, with leisure tourism in mind.

These projects will be complemented by a raft of new luxury hotels, with 10,000 new rooms expected to come on line by 2015 – an increase in supply by almost one-third, according to the Kuwait Hotel Owners Association (KHOA).

The InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has four properties planned for Kuwait and Millennium and Copthorne recently signed a deal to manage the new 307-room Millennium Hotel and Convention Centre in Kuwait City, while Kuwait Municipality also has unveiled plans to develop an array of luxury properties.

Funds earmarked for transport infrastructure alone total around $13 billion according to Kuwait government officials, with the Kuwait Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) spearheading the upgrade of existing facilities at Kuwait International Airport plus the construction of a new terminal, boosting capacity from the current six million passengers per year to 13 million by 2016.