International tourist arrivals to the Middle East is expected to grow between 2 and 5 per cent this year, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) said in a report.

"2016 projections remain positive with expected growth ranging between +2 per cent and +5 per cent, though with a degree of uncertainty given the volatile situation in the region," UNWTO said in its 2015 report.

The Middle East saw a total of 54 million international tourist arrivals in 2015, a 3 per cent increase compared to figures recorded in 2014.

Despite the slow climb, UNWTO’s long-term forecasts show that the Middle East is anticipated to be among the fastest growing tourism regions over the coming decades, with as many as 149 million international arrivals by 2030, or about triple its current volume.

This can be attributed to the regional activities conducted by the UNWTO. The UNWTO Secretary-General made official visits to Kuwait, Bahrain and Lebanon in 2015, with the aim to mainstream tourism in political agendas and strengthen Member relations.

In support of UNWTO Member States in the Middle East, several key events were held across the region, including capacity-building programmes, training courses and technical assistance missions.

The Ministerial Roundtable on Tourism Development in the Mena region, organized jointly by UNWTO and Casa Árabe, was held during the International Tourism Trade Fair in Spain (FITUR). The Roundtable focused on the current situation and prospects of tourism in the Middle East and North Africa. Speakers included the Tourism Ministers of Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq as well as high-level representatives from Jordan and Oman.

In Doha, Qatar, the UNWTO Regional Conference and Executive Training Workshop on eMarketing in Tourism was held to equip officials and professionals of Qatar and the MENA region with capacity, knowledge and skills on eMarketing in tourism (December 2015).

Among the technical assistance missions in 2015, an advisory mission was carried out in Amman, Jordan to review and update its tourism crisis management system and plan as well as formulate a set of policy recommendations to update the current crisis management system. In addition, an advisory mission for the development of a management system for tourism was held in Cairo, Egypt (December 2015).

In Saudi Arabia, UNWTO is conducting ongoing consultations with the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) for projects and project formulation missions in 2016, including the development of national handicrafts in Saudi Arabia, an overall assessment of the technical assistance needs of SCTH in measuring the economic impact of the meetings industry, and an overall assessment of the technical assistance needs of SCTH for the development of private museums in Saudi Arabia. - TradeArabia News Service