Can this be spring? Assessing the impact of the "Arab Spring" on the Arab tourism industry

Abstract

Th e socio-political unrest known as the "Arab Spring" has left its imprint on the tourism sector of the Arab region.Th is paper explores fi rst the eff ects of the Arab Spring on the macro-tourism performance of selected Arab countries, both oil and non-oil, using offi cial tourism and macro-economic statistical data.Subsequently, it examines the policies and strategies adopted by the Arab governments in order to mitigate the evolving tourism crisis in the non-oil Arab states.Finally, it examines the relationships between the Non -oil and GCC countries with respect to the tourism trends characterizing the Arab World since the outbreak of the, so-called, Arab Spring.It concluded that the tourism "pain" of the non-oil Arab countries became the "gain" of the GCC countries, which have been perceived by both intra-regional and international tourists as safer to visit.Th e paper concludes with an evaluation of the future tourism prospects for both the non-oil and the GCC countries.Assuming that the socio-political unrest accompanied by safety and security threat to tourists in some of the non-oil Arab countries will prevail at least in the foreseeable future, the paper points at further research directions in order to monitor these future trends.