Inbound visitor growth in the Middle East 2011-2025

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 typesTourism 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).

于2023年，中东地区入境游客数量增长了近40%。中东地区正经历着旅游业的强劲复苏，这表明在COVID-19疫情爆发及其后续旅行限制的影响之后，旅游业呈现积极的发展态势。根据联合国世界旅游组织的数据，中东和北非（MENA）地区的旅游业在2018年约占全球旅游接待总量的6%。2018年MENA地区的旅游接待人数超过6000万，其中阿拉伯联合酋长国（UAE）接待了1580万人。旅游业是MENA经济体赖以支撑的主要支柱之一。为多元化其石油经济而付出的努力，进一步提升了旅游业的重要性。MENA地区的旅游业涵盖了商务、休闲、健康与养生、宗教、文化和购物旅游。摩洛哥在2015年成为健康旅游领域的领先国家，接待了约250万游客。MENA地区拥有多样的自然、文化、遗产和宗教资产，如埃及的吉萨金字塔和耶路撒冷的阿克萨清真寺。除了MENA地区的联合国教科文组织世界遗产名录中的古代纪念碑和考古遗址外，还有诸如迪拜的哈利法塔和亚特兰蒂斯城等世界领先的的人工景点，以及豪华的购物中心。根据旅游和旅游竞争力指数，阿拉伯联合酋长国在2018年被评为MENA地区最具竞争力的旅游目的地，评分为7分中的4.4分。阿联酋的迪拜酋长国在2018年的国际旅游收入价值高达210多亿美元。整个MENA地区的总价值为730亿美元。2018年，MENA地区游客中最受欢迎的在线旅行公司为booking.com。预计到2020年，海湾合作委员会（GCC）国家的旅游接待人数将超过6430万游客。到2028年，该行业对MENA就业市场的贡献预计将达到720万个工作岗位。然而，2020年的COVID-19大流行对旅游和旅游业产生了显著影响。当年，超过60%的海湾合作委员会地区的商家报告称，他们的业务受到了旅行困难和限制的影响。