Tourism results for the period from January to August 2004 collected by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) show a spectacular rebound of tourism as all regions, including the Middle East and North Africa, saw a surge in international arrivals.
Most destinations in the Middle East with monthly data available continued the good performance of 2003 and the beginning of 2004. Lebanon, for example, received 42% more tourists from the Arab generating market up to July 2004, while the total number grew by an estimated 30%. Other destinations such as Dubai (+9%), Bahrain (+19%) or Jordan (+18%) also benefited from such strong demand.
Likewise, international arrivals to the North African destinations of Tunisia and Morocco grew by 19% and 17% respectively and, unlike in 2003, in 2004 tourism receipts are also growing (+3% in Morocco and +15% in Tunisia up to June 2004). (albawaba.com)
