With sweeping desert landscapes alongside natural and man-made wonders, tourism is an important facet of Jordan’s economy. Visitors flock to the country to see the fabled ancient city of Petra, take in important holy sites for Christians, Jews and Muslims, and bathe in the Dead Sea. While continued tension in the region has dented tourist numbers over the last few years, there are signs that...
The Middle East Tourism
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As ongoing volatility continues to hamper growth in the region, Jordan has made significant progress in preserving macroeconomic stability and reducing its fiscal deficit in the past few years. Efforts to the fulfill the stipulations of a $723m extended fund facility agreement with the IMF continue, and the government may need to pursue more widespread reforms to increase income tax revenues and limit tax avoidance so as to sustain recent momentum.
Although Bahrain has faced economic headwinds in recent years, the modest recovery of oil prices in 2017 bodes well for the future in addition to the non-oil sector driving growth, with activities unrelated to hydrocarbons extraction forecast to expand by 3.9% in 2018.
Chapter | Tourism & Retail from The Report: Bahrain 2018
As a leading performer in Bahrain’s economy in 2017, the tourism and leisure sector has begun measuring its success and impact in billions of dollars. The kingdom expects to see annual tourism receipts of over $1bn by 2020, by which time over $1bn will have been spent on upgrading its international airport and a further $10bn on a raft of new luxury hotel developments. By the end of 2018 the...
While the focus on preserving Oman’s natural surroundings and cultural traditions has allowed the sultanate to retain much of the spirit of historic Arabia, the arrival of modern infrastructure and an emphasis on new sectors like activity-based tourism and ecotourism suggest the country is also adapting to the needs of the modern global travel market. Oman has some of the most diverse...
The effects of lower oil prices continue to be felt in Oman, with budget cuts and spending rationalisation still in evidence across the board. However, higher commodity prices in late 2017 and into early 2018 should provide a welcome boost to state revenues.