Airline bookings for travel to the Middle East and Africa grew by 10.5% in 2017 and this growth is set to continue in the first quarter of 2018 as bookings are currently 11.2% higher than a year earlier, the announcement was made at the MEADFA (Middle East & Africa) conference. Africa Duty Free Association) in Dubai.
According to an analysis by ForwardKeys, a company that forecasts future travel based on about 17 million airfare transactions per day, markets around the world showed growth in 2017. For example, the Americas grew by 14.1%, Europe by 11.6%, and Asia Pacific by 19.0%.
This growth, according to analysts, was driven by three main trends. First, North African Markets Rebound after the terrorist attacks, secondly, wave of change in visa regulations that were designed to attract visitors, and thirdly, Strong growth in several source countries, primarily China.
Africa recorded impressive growth Tunisia, — 29% more tourists than the previous year. The country suffered three terrorist attacks in 2015, which led to the devastation of its tourism industry. In late 2016, European tourists began to return, and in July 2017, the UK government lifted its travel ban on the country.
Egypt showed similar results. Tourism in the republic suffered a major blow after the terrorist attack on a Russian airliner in late 2015, but has been slowly recovering since mid-2016. Group travel to the country grew by 66.5% in 2017.
Tourist flow in Morocco grew by 17% last year, driven by increased air traffic from the US and a threefold increase in Chinese traffic, helped by a new visa easing for Chinese travellers that came into effect in June 2016.
On Middle East There was a significant increase in traffic, with the exception of Bahrain, which grew by only 1%, and Qatar, which recorded a slight -0.2% - decrease in bookings compared to last year. The main reason for Qatar's relative decline is the diplomatic row with its neighbors, which resulted in Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE closing their airspace to Qatar Airways flights from June 5, 2017.
Analysts clarified that orders (air tickets) to the Middle East and Africa In the first quarter of 2018, they grew by 16% from North and South America, by 13% from Europe and by 4% from the Asia-Pacific region.
Olivier Jager, CEO of ForwardKeys, said, commenting on the results of the study: “Tourist flows to the Middle East and Africa, both last year and this year, can be characterized in just three words: “Double-digit growth.” Although the continuation of the diplomatic crisis in Qatar is a concern, there are more reasons for optimism.
Thus, since the beginning of this year, Rwanda has been granting all visitors, regardless of their origin, a visa on arrival; Saudi Arabia is set to introduce new electronic visas for tourists; regular flights to Egypt from Russia are set to resume, and the World Cup, which will be held in Russia this summer, is likely to lead to a short-term increase in transit passengers.”
Source: trn-news.ru
