International tourist arrivals to the Middle East continued to grow, with the region experiencing an 8 per cent growth in arrivals in the first three months of the year compared with the last two years, new data showed. “International tourism continues to perform strongly worldwide fuelled by a positive economy, increased air capacity and visa facilitation”, says UNWTO secretary-general, Zurab Pololikashvili. “With this growth comes greater responsibility for translating it into better jobs and better lives”, Pololikashvili stresses. Experts’ evaluation of tourism performance in the first four months of 2019 was also rather positive and in line with the expectations expressed at the beginning of that period. UNWTO forecasts growth of 3 per cent to 4 per cent in international tourist arrivals in 2019.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 22, 2019 09:22 UTC