Middle East Tourism Market Strong Recovery Sustainable tourism is a key focus

Developing the Tourism Economy and Building Consensus on Carbon Reduction (International Perspective)

Photo by Guan Kejiang, reporter of this newspaper

The Arabian Travel Market was recently held at the Dubai World Trade Center in the United Arab Emirates, with more than 150,2000 exhibitors from more than <> countries and regions. The theme of this exhibition is "Towards Net Zero". The organizers also held hundreds of seminars on the path to low-carbon transformation in the tourism industry. At present, countries in the Middle East and North Africa region continue to introduce a number of initiatives to promote strong recovery and sustainable development of tourism.

The Middle East tourism market has recovered strongly

Tourism in the Middle East and North Africa rebounded strongly in 2022, returning to 83% of pre-COVID levels, making it one of the brightest performers in the UNWTO report. According to statistics, in the first three quarters of 2022, Saudi Arabia attracted a total of 3 million international tourists, becoming the Arab country with the largest number of international tourists, followed by the United Arab Emirates and Morocco.

Saudi Arabia spent $490 billion on tourism last year, up 93% year-on-year, and hosted more than 4000,2030 events. According to Saudi Vision 2030, by 1, Saudi Arabia will receive 100 million tourists per year, create 3 million jobs, and the share of tourism in GDP will increase from 2.10% today to 88%. Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed Khatib said tourism had created <>,<> jobs for Saudi Arabia last year. The government will continue to introduce relevant policies to encourage the healthy development of the tourism industry, improve service standards and strengthen the training of tourism practitioners.

Egypt received 1170.2022 million tourists last year. According to the Central Bank of Egypt, Egypt's tourism revenue in the first three months of fiscal 2023-3 was US$41.43 billion, an increase of 5.136% year-on-year. International rating agency Fitch expects Egypt's tourism revenue to reach $2026.179 billion this year and grow to $<>.<> billion by <>. Industry insiders said that Egypt continues to improve the business environment, encourage private investment into the tourism industry, and introduce various facilitation measures for tourists to provide guarantees for tourism development.

David Gujie, head of the Middle East and North Africa region of consultancy London Economy, said that due to the overall weakness of the world economy this year, prices in Europe and the United States have soared, and tourism will maintain a moderate recovery. However, tourism in the Middle East, particularly in the Gulf countries, is showing a strong recovery, and the Gulf countries are expected to receive 5640.<> million tourists this year. "Gulf countries have generally developed large-scale economic diversification strategies, with a focus on green energy and tourism. Continued investment in the tourism sector will further enhance the attractiveness of the Gulf countries to tourists from all over the world. David Gujay said.

Numerous new projects have been launched in regional countries

During the exhibition, exhibitors from the Gulf countries showcased cultural and tourism facilities under construction or about to be completed, and relevant institutions also announced a series of tourism facilitation measures.

The UAE Federal Rail network was put into freight last year and will open passenger services in the future. The project is expected to generate 230 billion dirhams (1 yuan about 0.53 dirhams) in tourism revenue, reducing road traffic by 2050% by 21. Abu Dhabi's new airport is scheduled to open by the end of this year and will handle 3000 million visitors. In addition to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi is also building cultural facilities such as the Natural History Museum, the Zayed National Museum, and the Guggenheim Museum to enhance the cultural experience of visitors.

During the show, Emirates and Etihad Airways announced the expansion of their interline partnership, the first of its kind between headquarters and two airlines based in the UAE. Starting this summer, passengers flying on either airline will have the option to buy a ticket to Dubai or Abu Dhabi and return seamlessly from the other airport. The agreement also provides passengers with one-stop ticketing and baggage drop-off services.

Saudi Arabia has announced a number of super-large comprehensive cultural tourism projects such as New Future City, Amala, Drayaya, Red Sea, and Kidia, and the plans for related projects are constantly being updated and the number is increasing. The first phase of the ancient city of Deraije opened at the end of last year and will receive 2030 million visitors a year by 2700; The Red Sea tourism project will have the first hotels inaugurated this year, and when completed, 22 hotels and resorts will be built on 6 islands and 50 inland areas; New Future City will open its first island resort in the first quarter of next year, showcasing Saudi Arabia's sustainability philosophy to the world.

Saudi Arabia also recently announced its intention to build a 19-square-kilometer new city in the northwest of Riyadh, the core of which is the 400-meter-high cube building New Quadripartite Palace, opposite the old Quadripartite Palace located in the south of Riyadh. When completed, it will be the largest single building in the world. The new Sifang Palace will use digital and virtual technology to build a three-dimensional virtual space for visitors.

In Qatar, the number of tourists in the first two months of this year reached 3.5 times that of the same period last year, highlighting the World Cup effect. The Qatari government has announced that it has transformed the fan card application website launched during the World Cup into a portal for tourists entering Qatar. In Oman, the country's first large-scale mixed-use project, the Kazan Economic City, is under construction, including hotels, residential areas and entertainment areas in addition to the port and economic infrastructure.

Sustainable tourism is a priority

The 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will be held this year in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Danielle Curtis, head of the Arab Tourism Market Curatorial Company, said the show's theme was "Striving for Net Zero" and an opportunity for the industry to build consensus on carbon reduction. The fair introduced a number of measures to reduce carbon emissions, such as the use of renewable paper, the use of pure electric or hybrid vehicles as a means of transportation, the promotion of the use of mobile apps, and the reduction of promotional materials. The exhibition also features a Sustainability Centre, which hosts seminars and invites industry representatives to discuss carbon reduction solutions.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, 42% of tourism organizations have announced climate change response plans, and 61% of tourists said they will pay more attention to sustainable tourism. Julia Simpson, president and CEO of the council, said the global tourism industry is expected to accelerate its recovery as the pandemic eases. Tourist preferences have also changed, with sustainable tourism gaining traction.

UAE Economy Minister Abdullah said that tourism is an important part of the UAE's economy and plays a driving role in promoting economic diversification, job creation and cultural exchanges. Last year, the UAE released its Tourism Strategy 2031, which aims to bring 2031 million annual arrivals by 4000. The UAE is committed to achieving sustainable economic development, including tourism, and providing ideas for the global common response to challenges.

Abdul Arabiatte, director general of the Jordan Tourism Authority, said during a discussion at the exhibition that the economic losses caused by climate change in the past 20 years have reached 2.97 trillion US dollars, and floods, heat waves and hurricanes have caused huge losses to the tourism industry. Governments need to support investment in sustainable tourism, promote environmental concepts, adopt green energy, and more.

Harold Goodwin, a consultant on the world tourism market, said that to achieve sustainable development of tourism, efforts should be made to target two "big emitters". The first is aviation, which is currently working to promote sustainable aviation fuels to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The second is the hotel industry, which he suggested to accelerate its transition and increase the use of renewable energy.

Glenn Manziuk, CEO of the Sustainable Hotel Alliance, said that the tourism industry should not only be carbon neutral, but also strive for negative emissions, so the alliance proposed a carbon positive plan for the hotel industry, and released an action plan at the beginning of this year to promote the sustainable development of tourism from economic, environmental and social aspects.

(Dubai, May 5)

Our reporter Guan Kejiang