In 2023, inbound visitor numbers to the Middle East grew by almost 40 percent. The Middle East is witnessing a robust recovery in tourism, indicating a positive trend following the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent travel restrictions.

MENA tourism types

Tourism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region reached approximately six percent of the total worldwide tourist arrivals in 2018 according to United Nations World Tourism Organization. The number of tourism arrivals in the MENA region in 2018 exceeded 60 million, of which 15.8 million were received in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Tourism is one of the main pillars on which the MENA economies depend on. The efforts to diversify their oil-based economies have placed further importance on the tourism industry. Tourism in the MENA region includes business, leisure, health and wellness, religious, cultural, and shopping tourism. Morocco was the leading country in wellness tourism in 2015 with about 2.5 million visitors.

The MENA region has a variety of natural, cultural, heritage, and religious assets such as the Giza Pyramids in Egypt and the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. In addition to the MENA region’s UNESCO World Heritage Lists’ ancient monuments and archaeological sites, they also have world-leading man-made attractions such as the Burg Khalifa and Atlantis City in Dubai, as well as lavish malls and shopping centers. The UAE was rated the most competitive tourism destination in the MENA region in 2018 with a score of 4.4 out of seven points according to the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index.

MENA tourism trends

The emirate of Dubai in the UAE had the highest value of international tourist receipts of more than 21 billion U.S. dollars in 2018. The total value for the entire MENA region was 73 billion U.S. dollars. The most popular online travel company among MENA region tourists in 2018 was booking.com. Tourism arrivals in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries were expected to surpass 64.3 million tourists by 2020.

The contribution of the industry to the MENA job market was projected to reach 7.2 million jobs by 2028. However, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the travel and tourism sector significantly. More than 60 percent of business owners in the Gulf Cooperation Council in that year reported their businesses being impacted by travel difficulties and restrictions).

Improved road infrastructure, rising income levels, growth in tourism and options to hire a cab via mobile apps and/or online are driving the taxi industry revenue in Austria, which is estimated to reach nearly *** million U.S. dollars by 2023. Tourism to drive industry growth Taxi services are an integral part of the tourism industry in Austria. The country is ranked among the top ten countries in Europe in terms of international tourism receipts in 2018 and this is estimated to register a sustained growth over the next few years. These encouraging numbers, in turn, are likely to catalyze Austria’s taxi services market over the short to medium term. Protest from traditional taxi operators to restrict growth in the short term The introduction of technology has brought in a paradigm shift in the taxi operations industry, especially in the form of on-the-go bookings. The U.S. based ride-hailing service provider Uber is not only a pioneer in this space in Austria but also market leader with a share of 40% followed by BlaBlaCar and Foahstmit. However, traditional taxi operators have been protesting the alleged unfair practices being adopted by ride-hailing companies, asking for them to fall under the purview of existing Taxi regulations. Uber, on the other hand, has threatened to withdraw its services from the country if this happens. These ongoing developments are likely to curtail industry growth in the short term until the government brings in new regulations to offer equal opportunities to both legacy operators and the new age digital companies.

According to data from the UNWTO, the number of people employed in the accommodation services industry in Australia totaled approximately **** thousand in 2020. This reflected a noticeable decrease from **** thousand employees in this sector in the previous year.

In 2022, the number of Gulf guests that booked into five-star hotels in Qatar was about ***** thousand. The class of hotels is categorized by stars; based on this, a hotel with five stars is categorized as a luxury hotel. MENA tourism trends In 2018, the United Nations World Tourism Organization stated that tourism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region almost exceeded six percent of the total worldwide tourist arrivals. Moreover, the MENA’s total value of tourism in 2018 was ** billion U.S dollars. The most popular online travel company among MENA region tourists in 2018 was booking.com. Tourism in the MENA region ranges from business, leisure, health, and wellness, to religious, cultural, and shopping tourism. Morocco was the leading country in wellness tourism in 2015 with about *** million visitors. The MENA economies are highly dependent on the income from the tourism industry as they have also begun to diversify their oil-based economies with a focus on tourism. The number of tourism arrivals in the MENA region in 2018 exceeded ** million, of which **** million were received in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the whole MENA region and the world suffered severe losses in the tourism industry. Qatar tourism trends In 2011, tourism arrivals in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries were expected to surpass **** million tourists by 2020. Tourism had a contribution of **** billion Qatari riyals to the country’s gross domestic product in 2018. Most tourists visiting Qatar spend nights in five-star luxury hotels. The average daily rate of hotels in the Doha center in Qatar was about ** U.S. dollars during 2020. Doha is the capital and the city with the highest population in Qatar. It has many touristic attractions including the famous Souq Waqif or Waqif market which is an old walkway enclosed by restored buildings that highlight the country’s heritage. The highest number of tourists who visited Qatar in the first quarter of 2019 came from Europe.