Is the future of Middle East tourism all about low-cost carriers?
Skift Take
Low-cost carriers represent a small portion of Gulf and other Middle East traffic, but the sector is growing fast and speaks directly to a booming intra-country tourism.
The flood of Gulf tourists flocking to the Omani coast rather than to the usual Levant holiday destinations is just one sign that the boom in the region's aviation sector will continue despite a change in Middle East travel trends, experts say. "Tourists may have changed to other destinations including Dubai, Turkey and Oman, but people will always continue to fly more and will even go back to their usual destinations. It's only a matter of time," said Adel Ali, CEO of Air Arabia, the organizer of Aviation and Media Summit 2013.
The challenges and opportunities faced by the intertwined aviation and tourism industries were highlighted Wednesday and Thursday during a summit hosted by the small southwestern Omani city of Salalah, where more than 70 media representatives and aviation experts from across the region gathered.
The rise of intra-GCC tourism -- which includes typical destinations such as Dubai as well as atypical ones like Salalah and Saudi city of Abha -- does not mean Lebanon, Jordan
