São Paulo – After a drop in 2013, the number of international tourists that visited the Middle East grew back again in 2014. According to the December edition of the World Tourism Barometer, a publication of the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the region received 4% more visitors from January to October 2014 in comparison to the same period from last year. In 2013, a drop of 3% was recorded in comparison to 2012.
According to the UNWTO’s bulletin, all countries with available data recorded a raise in their numbers, with special focus for a significant raise in the number of tourists in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. That’s the first time that the region’s tourism grows since 2010.
In North Africa, according to the bulletin, there was a consolidation of the recovery made in the number of tourists, with a raise of 2% from January to October 2014 over the same period in 2013. In the comparison of 2013 with 2012, however, the number of visitors had grown 6%.
Tourism in the Middle East and North Africa took a serious hit beginning in 2011, with the eruption of the Arab Spring and the ensuing political and social instability. As the scenario stabilized in much sought-after destinations, like Egypt and Tunisia, tourist inflows began growing anew.
In global terms, the number of international tourists was up 4.7% from January to October 2014 to 978 million. By the end of the year, over 1.1 billion people are expected to have travelled around the world.
“These results are remarkable if one considers that different regions around the world continue to face major geopolitical and sanitary issues, and that the economic recovery around the world remains quite fragile and imbalanced,” said UNWTO secretary general Taleb Rifai, according to a press release from the organization. Regarding Sub-Saharan Africa, where tourism was up 3% in 2014, the organization notes that the increase came in spite of the Ebola outbreak in local countries.
The UNWTO stresses, however, that data pertaining to Africa and the Middle East must be taken with a grain of salt, since they were produced based on limited or “volatile” information.
The region where international tourist arrivals grew the most was the Americas, up 8% from January to October 2013. North America was a highlight due to the “extraordinary” performance of Mexico and the United States, but tourism increased across all sub-regions. In South America, for instance, arrivals reached 6% in 2014, twice as much as in 2013.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani & Gabriel Pomerancblum
