Turmoil in some countries in the region meant the Middle East saw a 10 per cent drop in tourist arrivals, while North Africa experienced a 9 per cent decline in the first two months of the year, the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) reported today.
More Business news: Editor's pick of today's headlines
Last Updated: May 11, 2011
Dubai's Emirates Airline sees profits soar 52% to set record The global economic recovery last year helped Emirates reach record net profits of $1.5bn, although high fuel prices dampened the performance. Read article
Microsoft Skypes for $8.5 billion Microsoft has made its biggest purchase ever by acquiring Skype for $8.5 billion in cash. Read article
The rise and fall of India's little loans Industry Insights // Authorities in India act after lenders are accused of exploiting the poor with high interest rates in microfinance. Read article
Etisalat rules out any resurrection of bid for Zain Etisalat will not make another bid for Zain, and it says the deal broke down because of a Kuwaiti law that would have almost doubled the value of the US$12 billion transaction. Read article
Video goes viral as Gulf leads the world for YouTube views Gulf residents are world's heaviest users of YouTube, with 120 million videos viewed a day in the wider Mena region. Read article
Despite this, international tourist arrivals grew by almost five per cent in the first two months of the year as the industry continued its rebound, reaching more than 124 million arrivals, compared to about 118.5 million in the same period last year, the UNWTO said.
"Although recent developments in North Africa and the Middle East and the terrible events in Japan will affect the results of their respective regions, overall growth in international tourism should not be significantly impacted," said Taleb Rifai, the UNWTO secretary general.
The organisation is still forecasting growth of 4 to 5 per cent for international tourism arrivals this year.
"The fall in demand in Tunisia, Egypt and Japan is expected to have bottomed out, and the recovery of these important destinations will surely be consolidated during the year," Mr Rifai said.
Amid regional unrest, countries including Egypt and Tunisia experienced sharp falls in tourism as travel warnings were issued by authorities and tour operators cancelled holidays and repatriated customers.
Although the beginnings of recovery in business to resorts located in the Red Sea in Egypt, the city hotels in places including Cairo are still struggling, hoteliers say.
Europe achieved a 6 per cent increase in tourist arrivals in the first two months of the year, the UNWTO said. This was helped by a redistribution of tourists who would have visited countries in the Middle East and North Africa hit by unrest and opted to visit the Mediterranean and southern Europe instead, according to the UNWTO.
In Dubai and Abu Dhabi hotels have reported an improvement in occupancy levels, partly helped by diverted travel flows because of unrest in other parts of the region.
But Abu Dhabi National Hotels (ADNH), which owns properties including the Sofitel hotel on Jumeirah Beach Residence in Dubai and Le Meridien and Hilton hotels in Abu Dhabi, as well as having a catering division, ADNHCompass, and a transport company, today reported a decline in net profits of more than half to Dh83 million compared to Dh170m in the same period last year.
rbundhun@thenational.ae