Middle East attracts 5m fewer tourists in 2011

The Middle East lost five million tourists last year due to the impact of the Arab Spring, the UN’s World Tourism Organisation has said.

Tourism arrivals to the region slumped eight per cent in 2011 but the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman still recorded “steady growth”, UNWTO said in a statement.

It said a total of 55 million tourists visited the Middle East last year, six per cent of the total international tourist arrivals of 980 million.

UNWTO said it forecasts a recovery in visitor numbers in the Middle East this year, adding that the region will see up to a five per cent increase.

“The Middle East is forecast to start to recover part of its losses from 2011,” UNWTO’s report said.

It added that international tourism would continue growing in 2012 although at a slower rate compared to the 4.4 per cent growth last year.

Arrivals are expected to reach the historic one billion mark by the end of the year, it added, with emerging economies seeing strongest growth. The UNWTO said international tourist arrivals grew to a total of 980 million in 2011, up from 939 million in 2010, in a year characterised by a stalled global economic recovery, major political changes in the Middle East and North Africa and natural disasters in Japan.

By region, Europe (up six per cent) was the best performer and growth was higher in advanced economies (up five per cent) than in emerging ones (up 3.8 per cent), due largely to the strong results in Europe, and the setbacks in the Middle East and North Africa.  “International tourism hit new records in 2011 despite the challenging conditions,” said UNWTO secretary-general, Taleb Rifai.

 “For a sector directly responsible for five per cent of the world’s GDP, six per cent of total exports and employing one out of every 12 people in advanced and emerging economies alike these results are encouraging, coming as they do at a time in which we urgently need levers to stimulate growth and job creation,” he added. Among the top ten tourist destinations, receipts were up significantly in the USA (up 12 per cent), Spain (up nine per cent), Hong Kong (up 25 per cent) and the UK (up seven per cent).