AFRICA / MIDDLE EAST
AFRICA / MIDDLE EAST REGION 31 MAIN TRAVEL DESTINATION Middle East and Africa: Back on Track After a depressing year 2013, last year brought some good news for both the Middle East and Africa. According to UNWTO data, Middle East international arrivals grew by 4% - the same rate as Europe, while Africa experienced a growth of 2%, the smallest increase of any regions in the world. International tourism in the Middle East (+4%) shows signs of a rebound with good results in most destinations. The region attracted an additional 2-million arrivals, bringing the total to 50-million. After two years of decline, the Middle East finally passed back over the 50-million arrival mark. Political turbulence finally did not have the feared impact on arrivals. “We see some transfer from one destination to another within the region. For example, many European tourists fear insecurity in some countries in the region and opt to visit Iran, as it remains an unknown destination in the region with a great cultural legacy. The fact that the government is now allowing travellers from the EU without a visa for a stay up to 14 days certainly has now a positive impact for our industry”, Atousa Goudarzian, Head of Incoming Department of Marcopolo Iran Touring Company told ITB Berlin News. Some destinations in the Middle East continue in fact to enjoy growth rates over the regional average. This is for example the case of Dubai, which saw total arrivals progressing last year by 5.6%, reaching 11.6 million. “We are very much perceived as a safe, familyoriented and modernist destination. Dubai offers so much for our visitors in what is considered as probably the safest of any destination in the Arabic World. With the opening of three new theme parks in 2016 - MotionGate, Bollywood and Legoland, we will reinforce our appeal to family travellers”, explained Anass Al Allouch, Senior Manager International Communications of Dubai Corporation for Tourism & Commerce Marketing. In their forecasts, the UNWTO estimates that the market to the Middle East will again grow in 2015 in a range of 2% to 5%. Africa’s international tourist numbers grew by an estimated 2%, equivalent to an increase of one …LAST YEAR BROUGHT SOME GOOD NEWS FOR BOTH THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA. million arrivals with the total number of international numbers hitting 56-million tourists. Arrivals to North Africa were weak (+1%), however, with a strong bounce back for destinations such as Egypt and Tunisia during the second half of 2014. “We were still experiencing a decline by over 20% by the first half of 2014 but we finally end up last year with over 4% growth”, highlights during a press conference Egypt Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou. Sub-Saharan Africa saw international tourist numbers rise by 3%. A rather good result especially after the negative headlines due to the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in a few West African countries. South Africa remains a favourite among travellers. The country passed for the first time last year the 10-million international arrivals mark, with city tourism booming. Durban for example saw total arrivals up by 13%, while Cape Town recorded a growth of 3% to 4% with over 1.5 million international travellers. In West Africa, priority is now given to tourism in the Ivory Coast and Senegal. Ivory Coast again targets half a million tourists per year thanks to increased safety in the country while the Senegal government increased the budget for the Ministry of Transport and Tourism by 75%. Total arrivals are expected to increase by +3% to +5% in Africa according to UNWTO forecasts for 2015. - Research by ITB Berlin News Specialist Luc Citrinot AFRICA & ME AFRICA ALGERIA HALL 21 B / 215 BOTSWANA HALL 20 / 131 BURUNDI HALL 21 A / 108 CAPE VERDE HALL 20 / 126 CONGO HALL 21 A / 123 COTE D’IVOIRE HALL 21 A / 110 DJIBOUTI HALL 21 A / 106 EGYPT HALL 23 A / 100 ERITREA HALL 21 A / 128 ETHIOPIA HALL 21 A / 124 GAMBIA HALL 21 A / 107 GHANA HALL 21 B / 212 KENYA HALL 21 A / 109 LESOTHO HALL 20 / 118 LIBYA HALL 21 B / 216 MADAGASCAR HALL 20 / 103 MALAWI HALL 20 / 101 MALI HALL 21 A / 103 MAURITIUS HALL 20 / 129 MAYOTT HALL 20 / 105 MOROCCO HALL 21 B / 208 MOZAMBIQUE HALL 20 / 107 NAMIBIA HALL 20 / 114 NIGERIA HALL 21 A / 118 RÉUNION HALL 20 / 132 RWANDA HALL 21 A / 115 SAO TOME & PRINCIPE HALL 20 / 128 SEYCHELLES ISLANDS HALL 20 / 130 SIERRA LEONE HALL 21 A / 117 SOUTH AFRICA HALL 20 / 138 SWAZILAND HALL 20 / 113 TANZANIA HALL 21A / 119 UGANDA HALL 2 A / 116 ZAMBIA HALL 20 / 106 ZIMBABWE HALL 20 / 133 MIDDLE EAST BAHRAIN HALL 23 B / 201 IRAQ HALL 21 B / 219 ISRAEL HALL 23 B / 203 JORDAN HALL 23 B / 202 KUWAIT HALL 22 B / 208 LEBANON HALL 23 B / 200 OMAN HALL 22 B / 200 PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES HALL 21 B / 213 QATAR HALL 22 B / 206 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES HALL 22 A / 101, 102, 103, 104, HALL 22 B / 203, 210 YEMEN HALL 21B/214 ITB BERLIN NEWS • Friday 6 th March 2015
