Coronavirus Tests Economic Reforms for Travel in Gulf Arab States
Photo Credit: Saudi Arabia last week also shut down the two holiest sites of Islam in Mecca and Madina (pictured here) to foreign travelers. flickr.com / Shaihana AlMutairi
Skift Take
Gulf Arab states are feeling the brunt of an economic slowdown as the spread of coronavirus tests years’ worth of reforms. Countries like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have relied on tourism and hospitality sectors to diversify away from oil, but recent travel cancellations and suspensions due to the illness are set to result in significant financial losses.
Countries across the oil-dependent Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have made efforts to bolster their travel and hospitality sectors in recent years to build more sustainable economic models, but the spread of coronavirus is testing the strength of such reforms.
“The biggest thing coronavirus has shown is how vulnerable the Gulf is to an epidemic, given its role as a travel and logistics hub,” said Varsha Koduvayar, an analyst on covering the Gulf Arab states with the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).
It has also shown that “infrastructure becomes a weakness during times of epidemic, exposing the Gulf to disease transmission and hurting the Gulf’s economies when steps are taken to contain transmission,” she added.
Saudi Arabia, for example, only as recently as October 2019 introduced a new 90-day tourism visa for travelers from 49 different countries, including the U.S., Canada, and Australia.
But on Sunday an official from the Saudi Ara
