Tourism in Middle East
GEOGRAPHICAL FACTS ABOUT THE MIDDLE EAST: Middle East is one of the smallest regions in the world and has an area of 2,780,000 square miles and a population of 366 million as of the year 2004 (www.ce.byu.edu). The countries of this region lie towards the South-West of Asia and towards the North-Eastern part of Africa. The Middle East consists of:
1. Asian part of Turkey
2. Syria
3. Lebanon
4. Israel
5. Jordan
6. Iraq
7. Iran
8. Saudi Arabia
9. Yemen
10. Oman
11. Qatar
12. Bahrain
13. Kuwait
14. United Arab Emirates
15. Egypt (www.infoplease.com).
There are six main language groups in the Middle East:
1. Persian
2. Arabic
3. Hebrew
4. Assyrian
5. Kurdish
6. Turkish
Middle East is the birthplace and the pioneer for Judaism, Christianity and Islam (www.en.wikipedia.org).
TOURISM AND MIDDLE EAST: According to the World Tourism Organization in 2002, Middle East had a remarkable 16.7% increase in its overall tourist arrivals as compared to 2001 as it finished with 27.5 million tourists but gained only 3.9% of the overall world market share. The standout performer for the Middle East was Saudi Arabia contributing 27.2% followed by United Arab Emirates with 19.7% and 17.8% contribution by Egypt. The main reasons seen for this increase in the figures are due to the fact that the governments of each country are making investments in developing tourist facilities and also a strong increase in the intra-regional tourism. From this increased number of tourists, Middle East earned a total of US$ 13 billion averaging to US$ 470 per person (www.maldivestourism.gov.mv). As compared to its inbound tourism, Middle East produced only 15 million tourists which had a 2.2% share in the world outbound tourist figures but significantly it was a 10.9% increase compared to its year 2001 figures (www.world-tourism.org). So from this it is inferred that Middle East is more of an inbound region.
TOURISM TRENDS/CHANGES IN MIDDLE EAST:
Francesco
1. Asian part of Turkey
2. Syria
3. Lebanon
4. Israel
5. Jordan
6. Iraq
7. Iran
8. Saudi Arabia
9. Yemen
10. Oman
11. Qatar
12. Bahrain
13. Kuwait
14. United Arab Emirates
15. Egypt (www.infoplease.com).
There are six main language groups in the Middle East:
1. Persian
2. Arabic
3. Hebrew
4. Assyrian
5. Kurdish
6. Turkish
Middle East is the birthplace and the pioneer for Judaism, Christianity and Islam (www.en.wikipedia.org).
TOURISM AND MIDDLE EAST: According to the World Tourism Organization in 2002, Middle East had a remarkable 16.7% increase in its overall tourist arrivals as compared to 2001 as it finished with 27.5 million tourists but gained only 3.9% of the overall world market share. The standout performer for the Middle East was Saudi Arabia contributing 27.2% followed by United Arab Emirates with 19.7% and 17.8% contribution by Egypt. The main reasons seen for this increase in the figures are due to the fact that the governments of each country are making investments in developing tourist facilities and also a strong increase in the intra-regional tourism. From this increased number of tourists, Middle East earned a total of US$ 13 billion averaging to US$ 470 per person (www.maldivestourism.gov.mv). As compared to its inbound tourism, Middle East produced only 15 million tourists which had a 2.2% share in the world outbound tourist figures but significantly it was a 10.9% increase compared to its year 2001 figures (www.world-tourism.org). So from this it is inferred that Middle East is more of an inbound region.
TOURISM TRENDS/CHANGES IN MIDDLE EAST:
Francesco