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Standard & Poor’s Global said that the war waged by Israel against… Gaza strip It harmed tourism in the Middle East and North Africa region.
The agency added – in a report – that the ongoing war has repercussions on other economies in the region, “in addition to the catastrophic loss of life and costly damage to infrastructure.”
The report stated that the tourism sector would be the most affected in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, due to their geographical proximity and the possibility of the conflict expanding across their borders.
He continued, “This will lead to a decline in real GDP growth in these countries and weaken their external positions, although this can be mitigated to some extent through potential support from international donors.”
The agency expected the financial impact to reach a loss of 10% to 70% in tourism revenues in each of the three countries, according to possible scenarios.
Last year, tourism contributed 26% of Lebanon’s current account revenues, while the contribution in Jordan reached 21%, in Egypt the figure was 12%, and in Israel it was 3%.
The report pointed out that expectations depend largely on how long the conflict continues, and whether it will extend to include broader parts of the region.
According to the agency’s current basic scenario, it expects the scope of the war to be largely limited to between Israel and Gaza and may last from 3 to 6 months.
The report stated that any escalation may open additional fronts in the region. “The potential effects of the war also include the flight of investment portfolios and non-resident deposits and a decline in foreign direct investment.”
He added: The increasing protests throughout the Middle East and North Africa region to express rejection of the Israeli aggression on Gaza may exacerbate social instability and escalate political risks.
Employment and foreign exchange
Tourism is a major source of employment and an important source of foreign exchange for many Middle Eastern countries, and it witnessed a strong recovery in 2023.
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the number of tourists coming to the region in the first seven months of this year increased by 20% compared to the same period in 2019.
For his part, Egyptian Minister of Tourism Ahmed Issa said that his country is moving to support the tourism sector, which has been severely damaged by the ongoing aggression on Gaza, explaining that Cairo is offering incentives to support tourism in South Sinai, where bookings have declined to 10%.
Tourism is a major source of hard currency in Egypt, and it seems that it will not achieve the desired figure this year, which the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities expressed two months ago, saying that Egypt is targeting 15 million tourists by the end of 2023, with expected revenues ranging between 16 and 17 billion dollars, during the current fiscal year 2023. -2024 (which began on the first of last July) compared to 14 billion achieved during the last fiscal year.
