Middle Eastern countries with the most international tourist arrivals 2021

The United Arab Emirates ranked first among the Middle Eastern countries with the most international tourist arrivals, receiving 8.08 million arrivals in 2020. The total number of tourist arrivals in the Middle East was over 44 million in the same year.

MENA tourism types

Tourism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region grew by about ten percent in 2018, reaching approximately six percent of the world’s tourist arrivals. Tourism is a major pillar of the economy, especially with the efforts to diversify from the oil-based economies in the region. The UAE was the most competitive travel and tourism destination in the MENA region in 2018 according to the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index at a score of 4.4 points out of seve. There is a wide variety of types of tourism offered in the MENA region. The region has a variety of natural, cultural, heritage, and religious assets. The region is home to ancient monuments and archaeological sites which were named in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The MENA region possesses a unique cultural landscape that consists of Arab architecture and a mix of British, French, Ottoman, and Spanish influences from its historical colonial legacy. The region also has a favorable sunny climate with access to different seas, cruises, shopping venues, and man-made attractions. The leading country in the region in 2015 in wellness tourism was Morocco with about 2.5 million visitors.

MENA tourism trends

The leading travel company according to tourists in the MENA region was booking.com. The emirate of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was leading in the MENA region in terms of the value of international tourist receipts which exceeded 21 billion U.S. dollars in 2018. The projected tourism arrival in the Gulf Cooperation Council region was estimated to exceed 64.3 million tourists in 2020. The contribution of travel and tourism to the MENA job market was expected to increase from about 5.7 million jobs in 2018 to exceed 7.2 million jobs in 2028.