LITTLE did anyone realise a year ago, on December 17, when a police officer confiscated Tunisian vegetable seller Mohammed Bouazizi’s cart that the incident would set off a chain of events which has changed the face of the Middle East beyond recognition.
Bouazizi set himself ablaze in protest at his treatment and the rest, as they say, is history.
The Tunisian government was toppled after his actions prompting a storm of protest against poverty, corruption and injustice, which soon spread to Egypt leading to the downfall of Hosni Mubarak after 30 years in power.
In Libya protests sparked by the arrest of human rights lawyers quickly turned violent leading to months of turmoil which eventually resulted in the death of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in October.
Tiny Bahrain too saw its share of unrest, which though subdued, is still to a lesser extent ongoing and, as we go to press, there are daily reports of violence in Syria with other Arab nations strongly criticising the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Not surprisingly, the ‘Arab Spring’, as this groundswell of protest quickly became known, has had a huge effect on tourism across the region.
In Egypt, where tourism accounts for more than 11 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), second quarter arrivals were down by 35.4 per cent on last year with the country losing a reported $2.27 billion in tourism revenues in the three months following the uprising.
However visitors rose by 23.2 per cent in the third quarter and the Egyptian government is going all out to restore the country’s reputation as a tourism hot spot assisted by the untainted appeal of its wealth of history and culture.
Tunisia’s tourism industry, while also initially affected, was much quicker to recover but the country is still suffering through the conflicts in neigbouring Libya and the government, like that of Egypt, is taking a proactive role to bring tourists back.
Bahrain, while never exerting the kind of tourism draw of its regional neighbours, also saw arrival numbers fall particularly with the cancellation of the Formula 1 Grand Prix, a major event in the island’s tourism calendar which brings in significant revenue.
Originally due to take place as the opening race in March, the event was initially rescheduled to the end of the year but later dropped from the 2011 season.
However the Bahrain race is back on the calendar for 2012 and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa has said the kingdom is ready for the challenge and moving forward.
And the Arab Spring has not been all doom and gloom.
While much of the region has been perceived as dangerous, while remaining relatively safe, the UAE is still seen as a trouble-free haven with tourists diverting there from other destinations.
In fact reported figures for Dubai, which struggled last year in the face of economic difficulties, show hotel occupancy rates reaching 78.6 per cent in September, up almost seven per cent on the same month in 2010, and rates increased by 10.9 per cent.
Tourism to the region has certainly not been helped by the economic situation in Europe, a primary source market. A survey revealed at the recent World Travel Market in London found a massive 38 per cent of UK consumers questioned did not take a holiday in 2011 and frequent news reports of pending economic meltdown across the Euro Zone tell their own story.
The imposition of travel taxes such as the UK Air Passenger Duty have also had a significant effect and have led to major protests from the industry.
And, in fact, the combination of economics and unrest has led the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) to revise its projected growth figures for the region with 2011 growth expected to level out negatively at -0.5 per cent rather than the 4.7 per cent projected in March.
Worldwide projected growth for the year has also been reduced to 3.2 per cent, down from the 4.5 per cent forecast in March, but it is clear to see, from these figures alone, that the region has been significantly affected.
However the WTTC sees 2012 as the year of rebound in the Middle Eastern travel and tourism sector with growth expected to reach 7.2 per cent – well up from the five per cent forecast back in March.
Signs of this recovery are already evident with hotel projects, some of which have been delayed in recent years, now coming on line.
There has been an upsurge of budget and mid-scale accommodation with offerings from the likes of Centro, from Rotana, and Ibis and our Middle Eastern airlines too have continued their rapid expansion making the region ever more accessible with Emirates alone due to introduce seven new routes in the coming months, new destinations regularly announced by Qatar and Etihad and Gulf Air continuing with its comprehensive recovery programme.
By Liz O’Reilly