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Tourism to the Middle East is taking off, led
by countries such as Syria, which experienced 34% growth in the first quarter of 2004, and no slow down is
expected despite a bombing incident on Tuesday night in the capitals diplomatic
quarter.
At a news conference in Damascus, where the World Tourism
Organization (WTO) is holding the annual meeting of its Middle East commission, Secretary-General
Francesco Frangialli congratulated Syria for being on the right track in tourism
development, adding: "The bombing was an exceptional and unprecedented
incident, I am certain that there will be no impact on tourism."
WTO events continued without interuption and it was business as usual
in the Syrian capital on Wednesday. A 2,000 km road rally that will take
participants from several Arab countries including film stars on a tour throughout Syria was
launched by Syrian Tourism Minisiter Saadallah Agha Al Kalaa and Mr.
Frangialli, demonstrating the high-level of security that exists all over the country.
Syria is a peaceful and stable country that has not experienced a
similar problem in nearly 20 years, the minister said, praising police for
acting professionally, swiftly and wisely to bring the incident under control in one hour and limit
casualties. The bombing, which resulted in four deaths, did not target tourists and
is being considered an isolated incident.
Tour operators are expected to continue sending their clients into
Syria because there was no change in travel advisories to the country, according to International
Federation of Tour Operators President Martin Brackenbury, who is also attending
the meetings.
The WTO session on Thursday will deal with the controversial issue of
travel advisories. Although governments have the responsibility to warn
their citizens about possible dangers they may encounter when travelling
abroad, they also acknowledge the devastating effect advisories can have
on the tourism-dependent economies of many countries and are looking for
ways to make them more fair and less damaging.
Mr. Frangialli and Minister Al Kalaa held talks this week with Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad and Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri, who both
indicated their commitment to the development of the industry, saying that
tourism can be the oil of Syria.
Defying conventional wisdom that indicates tourists steer clear of
the worlds political hot spots, tourism to the Middle East is growing faster than any other
region of the world, with an increase of 17% in arrivals in 2002 and 10% in 2003, a
year that saw negative tourism growth worldwide. This is due to the emergence of
trendy new destinations such as Syria, Lebanon, Dubai and Egyptian Red Sea
resorts. It can also be attributed to new markets for the Middle East, such as
Russia and Asia. But above all, intra-Arab travel is driving the tourism boom, as
people choose holiday destinations that are closer to home.
As part of the WTO meetings, a two-day seminar on E-Tourism: The
Route to Competitive Success brought together the worlds leading experts on
Internet and tourism to discuss how to develop destination websites and e-commerce for
private sector tourism companies, such as hotels, travel agencies and tour
operators. |
