Xinhua News Agency, Cairo, January 5th (International observation) The Middle East tourism market is eager for China tourists.
Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhi Linfei Chen Mengyang Xu Supei
In recent years, the COVID-19 epidemic has hit the global tourism industry hard, and brought a big impact to many countries in the Middle East which are rich in tourism resources. With China’s announcement that it will gradually resume China citizens to travel to qualified countries, the multi-country tourism market in the Middle East, which regards China as an important tourist source, is full of expectations.
On December 22, 2022, tourists visited the pyramids in Giza, Egypt. Egypt has entered the winter tourist season. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yan Xiankai)
Tourism is gradually recovering.
Egypt, which is famous for its pyramids and Nile, is a desirable tourist destination. Entering the Hariri market, located in the old town of Cairo, Egypt, with a history of more than 600 years, labyrinthine alleys, dazzling booths, steaming snack bars and noisy Arab cafes set each other off, making it a punching place for many foreign tourists.
Amru Dashi, who runs a bronze and jewelry store, told reporters that after the outbreak, tourists dropped sharply and business plummeted. Now, foreign tourists have returned to Egypt, and the situation has improved. "Judging from the situation of my store and Hariri market, it has probably recovered to about 60% before the epidemic." He said.
Jordan, with tourism as its economic pillar, has famous scenic spots such as Petra, one of the new seven wonders of the world, and has also suffered a lot in recent years. Abdurazak Abu Muhaisen, a Jordanian who studied the traditional techniques of making Arab daggers since childhood, runs a manual workshop. Under the impact of the epidemic, the workshops were once empty. "Craftsmen can only wait if they have no work to do." He said, "It was hard to overcome the previous difficult situation."
In 2022, with the improvement of the epidemic situation, Jordan’s tourism industry gradually recovered. According to Petra News Agency of Jordan, from January to November 2022, Jordan’s tourism revenue reached US$ 5.3 billion, an increase of 115% over the same period in 2021, and the number of foreign tourists visiting Jordan nearly doubled.
During the severe epidemic period, Saudi Arabia temporarily closed the entry channels for foreign tourists, and Saudi citizens’ outbound travel was also restricted. With the reopening of inbound and outbound tourism in Saudi Arabia in 2021, the local tourism industry gradually recovered. The World Tourism Organization recently said that Saudi Arabia has become one of the countries with the fastest recovery of tourism among the major economies in the world.
This is the "edge of the world" natural scenery shot near Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Haizhou)
Looking forward to the return of China tourists
With the continuous optimization and adjustment of epidemic prevention policies in China and the orderly resumption of China citizens’ outbound tourism, Abdurazak Abu Muhaisen is full of confidence in the future of local tourism. "China is a world power and an ancient civilization. I believe that the arrival of China tourists will revitalize Jordan’s tourism industry. " He said.
"China is an important tourist source country. We are very happy to see China resume its citizens’ outbound tourism in an orderly manner and look forward to China’s return to the world tourism market. To this end, Saudi Arabia will strengthen cooperation with China partners." Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed khatib said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency.
In February 2017, Tunisia implemented a visa-free policy for China tourists. In the same year, China became the fastest growing tourist source market in Tunisia, and it also increased significantly in the following two years. However, the epidemic has affected this momentum. As a tourism practitioner who focuses on the China market, Amy, manager of Tunisia Blue Sky Travel Agency, has been waiting for the situation to improve, and learned for the first time that China will resume its citizens’ outbound tourism in an orderly manner. "This is very good news for us!"
Before the outbreak of the epidemic, nearly 90% of Ami’s travel agency business revolved around the China market. "The China market has great potential and Chinese has traveled all over the world." He expressed the hope that direct flights will be opened between China and Tunisia in the future, and more tourists from China will be welcome.
Amru Dashi, who earned more than half of his sales revenue from China tourists before the epidemic, is full of expectations: "I earnestly hope that China tourists will return to Egypt and Hariri market as soon as possible to help us improve the status quo and return to the state before the epidemic."
On December 29, 2022, the owner of a flower market in the center of Tunisia, the capital of Tunisia, showed flowers to customers. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Adail)
Tailor-made tourism products
In Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, there is a China Street in the newly opened World Park in November 2022, which is the first China Street in Riyadh and even in Saudi Arabia. Mohammad Haji, who works in the park, told Xinhua that many Saudis like the culture of China and China, and many people are learning Chinese. "I hope more China friends will visit Saudi Arabia and learn about Saudi history and culture, so that we can become good friends.".
Recreation and tourism industry is a pillar of Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation plan "Vision 2030". Saudi Arabia plans to invest 1.5 trillion US dollars in 10 years and become one of the top ten tourist destinations in the world by 2030. Industry insiders predict that Saudi Arabia plans to vigorously develop tourism and will launch more tourism service products for China tourists.
Cai Feifei, Tunisia representative of Beijing Cezanne International Travel Service, made full preparations for welcoming tourists from China. "Tunisia is rich in tourism resources, and China tourists especially like the tent experience in the Sahara desert, visiting the blue and white towns, the ruins of Carthage, and the El Jem Colosseum." She introduced the travel packages tailored for China tourists like a few treasures.
In Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city spanning Europe and Asia, with its charming scenery and unique cultural landscape, local travel agency employee Selhan Kochihan is planning new tourism projects and destinations in advance according to the needs of tourists from China, designing unique short-distance travel routes, hoping to meet China tourists in the best condition.
"China tourists like to visit the old city of Istanbul, where Byzantine and Ottoman monuments, palaces and mosques can be seen everywhere. China tourists also like Mar Malakhei, and even transit passengers want to take time to take a look at Mar Malakhei. " He said. (Participating in reporters: Hu Guan, Yao Bing, Ji Ze, Wang Feng, Liu Jiaqi)