The World Tourism Organization recently released a report showing that affected by the epidemic, the number of tourists entering the Middle East in the first eight months of this year dropped by 69%. With the gradual lifting of travel restrictions in many countries in the region, the tourism industry in the Middle East is slowly climbing from the trough, showing a gradual recovery momentum.
The multi-national tourism market started to improve
The entrance to the Egyptian National Museum in the center of Cairo was crowded with people, and tourists lined up in an orderly manner. The slogan "Please wear a mask" is very eye-catching, and stickers reminding social distancing can be seen everywhere on the ground. Under the guidance of the staff, the reporter was able to enter the tour after a series of procedures such as temperature detection, security check, and disinfection. According to the museum staff, local tourists are currently the main crowd visiting the museum, and the number of foreign tourists is slowly recovering. According to the latest data from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage, about 400,000 tourists have visited Egypt since the reopening of tourism in July.
Recently, Saudi Arabia has vigorously promoted domestic beaches, mountain peaks and historical sites and other tourist attractions, encouraging people to use domestic tours instead of overseas vacations. At present, the average occupancy rate of domestic hotels has increased to 80%. Haltham Matar, a senior adviser to the Ministry of Tourism of Saudi Arabia, said that in the context of the recovery of the limited number of international tourists, tapping the domestic tourism market has become the focus. With a population of 34 million, Saudi Arabia has great potential for domestic tourism.
In some cities in Turkey, the hotel occupancy rate has rebounded significantly recently, and the number of tourists from Europe has increased significantly. Brak Beseren, a partner of the Uluda Ski Center in Bursa, northwestern Turkey, said that due to European travel restrictions, many international tourists who originally planned to go skiing in Europe turned to Turkey. "Our pre-sales on the Internet are currently looking optimistic. The increase in tourists during the winter period is expected to offset the losses in the first half of the year."
At Dubai International Airport in the UAE, with the gradual restoration of routes, the terminal that once suspended a large number of flights has become lively again, and many closed airport duty-free shops have also reopened. Paul Griffith, CEO of Dubai International Airport, said that the current airport passenger flow has recovered to more than 1 million passengers per month, which is 85% of the same period last year. The gradual recovery of international flights will attract more tourists, which in turn will promote the recovery of tourism in regional countries.
Related support policies continue to be introduced
Since June this year, many countries in the Middle East have lifted travel restrictions one after another, and tourist attractions have resumed opening one after another. Countries continue to introduce a series of preferential and incentive measures to promote the recovery of tourism.
The Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Mannar recently announced that tourists entering Egypt on Egyptair flights will receive discounts on admission to museums and archaeological sites. The Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of Egypt also encourages tourists to visit Egypt through online virtual tours and holding exhibitions overseas. Khalid Anani, the Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Cultural Heritage, said that the government will launch more measures to revitalize the tourism industry in the future.
In order to develop domestic tourism, the Jordan Travel Guide Association has launched 40 different routes and itinerary preferential travel packages across the country, subsidizing 40% of transportation, catering and accommodation fees for national citizens, which are welcomed by local people.
Israel strives to attract domestic tourists by investing in infrastructure maintenance and organizing various festival celebrations. The Israeli Ministry of Tourism announced on November 15 that it will designate the Dead Sea region and the southern tourist city of Eilat as a special "tourist island" and reopen the tourism and hotel industries in these two regions.
Rafat Nabravi, former dean of the School of Archaeology at Cairo University in Egypt, pointed out that during the epidemic prevention and control period, regional countries launched various overseas exhibitions, online tours and other methods to introduce local cultural relics and attractions, laying a foundation for attracting tourists to visit in the future The foundation.
Dubai Tourism has been cooperating with some Internet companies to promote tourism. Saudi Arabia announced the establishment of a tourism development fund to cooperate with private and investment banks to increase efforts to develop and promote 38 attractions in seven major destinations.
In order to reassure foreign tourists, various countries have also introduced strict epidemic prevention measures. Dubai implements the "Dubai Guarantee" certification in retail establishments, entertainment centers and attractions, and locations that pass regular inspections will be marked free of charge to ensure that the areas visited by tourists have complied with strict safety regulations and hygiene standards. The Ministry of Tourism and Handicrafts of Tunisia has launched a "Ready and Safe" tourism logo to ensure the safety of tourists against the epidemic.
The overall recovery of the industry will take time
Some industry insiders pointed out that, given the richer tourism resources in the Middle East and the release of tourism demand from the people, the tourism industry in the Middle East is expected to show a phased acceleration in the post-epidemic period.
Experts reminded that the prerequisite for the recovery of the tourism industry is that the epidemic is under control, so it is very important to implement epidemic prevention measures and maintain epidemic prevention results. At present, the global epidemic has not yet ended and the public's lack of confidence in tourism consumption is an important factor hindering the current recovery of international and regional tourism. For some time to come, the recovery of the Middle East tourism industry will continue to be repeatedly tested by the epidemic.
World Tourism Organization Middle East Regional Committee Chairman Mohamed Hamis Muller recently called on countries in the region to continue to introduce policies to support tourism-related institutions, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to tide over the difficulties during the period when the industry returns to pre-epidemic levels.
Some Middle Eastern media pointed out that during the epidemic prevention and control period, various industries in the Middle East have made gratifying progress in digital construction. For the tourism industry, tourists’ travel habits have changed, reducing contact with free travel, online booking, and online payment. With increasing popularity, tourists will also pay more attention to the cleanliness and comfort of tourist destinations, which puts forward new requirements for relevant institutions to improve infrastructure and improve service levels. In addition, medical tourism, coastal leisure tourism and other tourism forms have attracted more attention, which means new development opportunities for the Middle East region, which has a relatively high cost-effective medical treatment and a more developed hotel industry. (Zhou Yu)
