Regional unrest has not deterred tourism to GCC countries

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Holidaymakers are still heading to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries despite unrest in the wider Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, according to travel companies and analysts.

The GCC is considered a bright spot among the chaos in the region, from the civil war raging in Yemen to militants’ control of Syria and Iraq.

Travel companies and analysts said that most travelers are not concerned about the safety of the GCC nations due to their high level of security.

“In general the stability of the UAE, Qatar and Oman are well known, and the authorities are providing state of the art domestic security and have very solid procedures and policies in place to prevent possible incidents,” said Carl Palmlund, senior vice-president-commercial, senior partner at hospitality consultancy INHOCO Group.

The GCC countries “place security high on their agenda”, said Debbie Duncan-Studart, general manager at Abercrombie & Kent, a luxury travel company.

Also, marketing campaigns and road shows play a role in promoting the GCC as a safe region, said Kulwant Singh, managing director of Dubai-based Lama Tours.

“These campaigns and road shows help people know that the GCC is safe. Dubai has marketed itself so well that people from the western world know where we are actually located. There were times when people thought we are next to Iraq and maybe an area where bomb attacks are normal,” he said.

Karan Anand, head of relationships at travel company Cox & Kings, said that unrest in the Mena region “has not deterred tourists from traveling to these three destinations [Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman] as they feel it is secure.”

Negligible effect

However, some international travelers are discouraged from visiting the GCC but their numbers are “so low”, said Nikola Kosutic, research manager at consultancy Euromonitor International.

“The unrest in the region has a negligible effect on tourism in the GCC because the majority of travelers are from neighbouring countries. They are well educated about what’s safe and what’s not … the crime rates in these countries are low,” Kosutic said.

While the GCC is viewed as a safe region, it has faced a series of security incidents in recent months.

The bombing of a mosque in Saudi Arabia’s Asir province on Thursday, which killed at least 15 people, is the latest in a spate of attacks on mosques in the kingdom.

Earlier this summer, Shia mosques in the kingdom and Kuwait were attacked during Friday prayers.

In the UAE, authorities said last week that they plan to try 41 people on charges of setting up a terrorist organization.

Analysts said that the incident is unlikely to discourage holidaymakers from visiting the country.

“I think there is no major impact. It is an isolated case,” Kosutic said.

Inbound tourism to the GCC continues to grow, said Christopher Hewett, senior consultant at TRI Consulting.

Wider market

“Although some specific markets such as Jordan, Lebanon and to a lesser extent Egypt continue to face challenges from their proximity to unrest, the wider market is witnessing continued growth in visitors, particularly Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha,” he said.

Singh said that the unrest in the Mena region means that travelers will choose to visit the GCC nations since they are safer options.

“Whenever there are incidents of unrest in the region we get the most benefit,” he said.

Travel company Thomas Cook said last month that the terrorist attack on a resort in Tunisia in June and the Greek debt crisis will reduce profit by roughly £25 million (Dh142 million) this year. Since then, the company has cancelled all holidays to the North African country until the end of October.

Dubai welcomed 13.2 million visitors in 2014, up 8.2 percent compared to the previous year.