One Year Later: How October 7 Impacted Tourism in the Middle East
Skift Take
Key Points
- Tourism in Egypt and Jordan has struggled to recover due to ongoing Middle East conflicts, with American and European tourists hesitant to visit.
- Cruise lines like Norwegian and Carnival have suspended trips to Israel, Egypt, and Jordan, prioritizing safety amid regional instability.
- Jordan has faced a significant drop in tourism, with an 80% decline in demand noted by travel companies, while Egypt sees a slight increase in international arrivals but a decrease in American visitors.
Summary
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East, particularly the Israel-Hamas tensions, has severely impacted tourism in neighboring countries like Egypt and Jordan. Both nations have seen declines in tourist numbers, especially from American and European markets, with the cruise industry halting visits to the region. While Egypt has managed to attract more international tourists overall, Jordan has experienced a notable downturn, shifting traveler interest to other destinations such as Morocco.
On October 7, it will have been one year since Hamas attacked Israel. Egypt and Jordan, two of the countries neighboring the conflict, are still far from a full tourism recovery from American and European source markets.
“The repeated escalations, polarization around the conflict, and consistent news coverage have made it harder to sell Egypt and Jordan,” said Kelly Torrens, vice president of product for Kensington Tours.
“Now that the high season is starting and we see this volatility, the likelihood of seeing an increase in people feeling confident about visiting, when there are so many other destinations in the world that aren’t in the news cycle and don’t have this level of concern, is low,” said Torrens.
Cruise Industry Stays Away
Cruise lines have no plans to include Israel, Egypt, and Jordan in their itineraries anytime soon. Both Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival have suspended trips to the region.
“Due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, we made the difficult decision earlier this year to cancel all our Red Sea sailings across our three brands,” said a Norwegian Cruise spokesperson. “This measure remains in effect through all of 2024 and the majority of 2025, as the safety and well-being of our guests and crew remain our top priority.”
Jordan — War Scares Off Tourists
Jordan, which shares a long border with Israel, has been hit the hardest. The number of tourists visiting Jordan in the first eight months of the year has dropped 7% compared to last year, reported the Jordan Times.
Scheduled airline capacity to Jordan for October 2024 was 497,788, down from 540,405, according to Cirium. Hotel occupancy was 48.4% for the period between January and August, down 15.8% from last year, according to CoStar.
2024 has been a “hard year” for Jordan, said Marwan Idris, CEO of Adonis Travel and Tourism, which is based in Jordan.
Intrepid Travel has seen customer interest nosedive since the war. The company experienced a 45.5% drop in customer bookings for Jordan, said Matt Berna, president of Intrepid’s Americas region.
Before the war, Jordan was WeRoad’s top-selling destination, but it is now down 80% compared to before the war, said CEO Andrea D’Amico. A lot of the demand for Jordan has shifted to Morocco.
Egypt — American Tourists Haven’t Returned
Egypt is performing better than Jordan. In the first seven months of 2024, Egypt received 8 million international tourist arrivals, an increase from last year, reported Egypt Today.
The number of scheduled airline seats in October 2024 stood at 2.5 million, which is around the same as last year. Hotel occupancy was 61.1% between January and August, down 3.9% from last year, according to CoStar.
However, the American market remains largely absent. Over 64,000 U.S. citizens visited Egypt between January and August, down 7.8% from last year, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office.
Egypt Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa told Skift in March the Israel-Hamas conflict has deterred American tourists.
Basem Saleh, co-founder of Great Wonders of Egypt Travel, has not seen bookings from Americans improve much since last year. “The numbers are still down,” he said.
Intrepid Travel customer bookings for Egypt are down 30.9% from last year, said Berna.
Egypt used to be one of Kensington Tours’ most popular destinations, but it has been far from a recovery, said Torrens.
Photo Credit: Petra, Jordan. Photo Credit: Hongbin on Unsplash Unsplash / Hongbin
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