The Middle East tourism paradox

The Arabian Travel Market in Dubai this week was heaving with visitors, and hotel chains fell over each other in the crowded press centre as they rushed to present huge expansion plans in their limited time slots.

As an official from Kingdom Hotels, Prince Alwaleed's group, commented the hotel industry is the fastest growing industry in the region, and indeed worldwide and will be for the next two decades. People are more affluent, living longer and they like to travel.

But surely not to the Middle East! You might imagine wars and terrorism would scare them off. But it seems unlimited sunshine and luxury accommodation at bargain prices is enough to overcome such worries. The weak US dollar has given tourists from Europe big spending power, while more Gulf citizens are choosing to vacation nearer to home given the problems of obtaining visas to some destinations like the USA.

Industry watchers are amazed by the success of a place like Dubai whose lack of indigenous history and culture has proven no problem in attracting guests. Five million visitors came last year for the sunshine and beautiful new hotels, and the emirate intends to triple this figure in a few more years.

Indeed, there is now a me-too movement in the region with Abu Dhabi rolling out its big plans for tourism at the ATM this week. Six months ago there was a new airline, now a holiday company and a clutch of new hotels such as The Fairmont Abu Dhabi Resort and Spa; and within a few months Abu Dhabi is to have its own tourism authority.

This seems a change of heart. Abu Dhabi never really appeared to want tourists in the past. The same might be said of Qatar whose tourism ambitions now run into billions of dollars of new hotels, airport facilities and an artificial island project inspired, perhaps, by The Palm, Jumeirah in Dubai.

Even sleepy Oman - which has a greater heritage to show than most Gulf States - is getting in on the act with some great new hotel projects, and The Wave, a massive tourism project with freehold ownership of property.

Above all, towers the ambition of Dubai to do tourism even better. At the ATM models of the $5 billion Dubailand theme park showed the way of the future, with the Middle East's answer to Disneyland, Florida, on display. It was also notable that any hotel chain worth its salt could point to several upcoming projects in Dubai, and at least one on The Palm, Jumeirah.

Not that Egypt is being left out. The Hilton announced five new hotels in the land of the pharaohs and a number of other chains are also expanding vigorously as well.

Of course, geopolitical problems do have repercussions. The Ramalla Movenpick hotel is stalled but the chain promises it will be the first hotel to open when the fighting stops. And Hilton's earnest ambition to open in Baghdad is presently on hold.