The birth of tourism can be traced back to 17th century Europe, when the nobles and wealthy visited neighbouring countries and paid for services when touring new regions. In the years, decades, and centuries that followed, tourism expanded outside Europe, and tourism activity now includes religious visits and pilgrimages to holy places.
The Middle East has a wealth of attractive tourist draws — from historical landmarks and monuments to warm beaches, traditional foods, events, and festivals.
Let us explore some of the most beautiful and interesting places to visit in this diverse region.
Traditional Arab tourist hubs
Countries such as Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco have always been magnets for tourists, with their wide selection of cultural activities and abundance of historical sites including ancient monuments, ruins and shrines.
Tourism has long been a pillar of these economies and, as such, tourism has been promoted across Europe and North America to attract tourists from these lands.
Recent reports point to high tourism revenues in these countries before the Arab Spring in 2011, as well as after the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Gulf tourism on the rise
Recently, Arab countries from the GCC region — especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE — have also made their mark on the global tourism landscape.
These countries have traditionally depended on oil and gas since the beginning of the 1950s but now are looking to diversify their economies to reduce their dependency on oil. As such, tourism is a relatively new and emerging activity.
Read more: Hinat and the Queens of the Nabataean Kingdom
So how can Arab governments boost the contribution of the tourism sector to their GDP?
In a report issued in January 2022, the UN World Tourism Organization named France the most visited destination in terms of international tourist arrivals with 82.7 million visitors, followed by the United States with 76.4 million visitors, while Spain ranked third with 75.3 million visitors.
Arab rankings
But where do Arab states fall on such rankings?
Saudi Arabia ranked 19th with 18 million visitors, while the UAE ranked 25th with 14.8 million visitors. Morocco came in 35th with 10.5 million visitors, Tunisia 49th with 5.7 million visitors, and Egypt 52nd with 5.3 million visitors.
World Tourism Organization Praises #UAE Efforts to Recover the Tourism Sector@UNWTO pic.twitter.com/VEY4pDQ23l
— UAE Forsan (@UAE_Forsan) April 12, 2021
This ranking reflects tourist activity in 2021, which is interesting considering the preventive measures taken at the time to combat the pandemic which disrupted tourism in many places, including Arab countries. Last year, many countries reopened their borders to visitors, which is likely to reflect positively on 2022 figures.
UNWTO estimates tourism revenues in the UAE at $19.5 billion, Saudi Arabia at $11.1 billion, Morocco at $6.6 billion, Egypt at $2.6 billion, and Tunisia at $1.2 billion. However, data on the number of visitors or revenues in Arab countries must be approached carefully given the lack of credibility in the statistical approaches of many Arab countries.
Instead, these figures should be treated as inferential indicators to develop perceptions about the future of tourism in the Arab world. It goes without saying that Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia had achieved significant results in this sector before 2011, when tourism was a significant contributor to the economy, which resulted in increased investments in hotels and resorts and improved tourism services.
Saudi and Emirati investments in tourism
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are striving to consolidate their positions on the global tourism map. Their respective private sectors are undertaking several resort, hotel, and entertainment centre projects, while their governments are sponsoring others, including infrastructure projects such as ports, airports, roads, power and water supply, and other vital facilities.
Saudi Arabia should be able to attract more visitors after upgrading its tourism sector and promoting Hajj and Umrah tourism.
The recent cultural and social openness will also enhance recreational activities in the country and thus attract more visitors, especially from other Gulf countries.
