The Hindu Business Line : UAE bucks regional trend on tourism

DUBAI: There has been a surge in the number of tourists arriving in the UAE during the first four months of this year, despite the largest fall in this sector in the Middle East as compared to any other part of the world, a top UN agency said.

According to the UN World Tourism Organisation's (UNWTO) tourism barometer, the UAE bucked the regional trend with tourist growth of three per cent even as the Middle East region saw tourism decline by 18 per cent between January and April compared with the same period last year.

Saudi Arabia saw the biggest drop in number of tourists in the region. International tourism also declined globally by eight per cent during this period.

Destinations worldwide recorded a total of 247 million international tourist arrivals in the first four months of this year, down from 269 million last year, it said.

Tourists arrival to Europe, America has declined by 10 and five per cent respectively. Asia Pacific has seen a fall of six per cent. Africa, meanwhile, saw tourism increase by three per cent. According to UNWTO's revised forecast international tourism is expected to decline by four to 6 per cent (negative) during the remaining year. - PTI

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