COMCEC Tourism Outlook-2018
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is reportedly considering easing visa restrictions to encourage more international tourism
arrivals. Further, the outlook for sector has arguably brightened following the launch in April
2016 of the government's economic diversification strategy, referred to as Vision 2030.
Religious pilgrimages remain the largest source of inbound tourism to Saudi Arabia and the
government continues to invest in supporting infrastructure such as the 450km high speed rail
network connecting Madinah with Makkah, King Abdullah Economic City and Jeddah (BMI
Research, 2016). Saudi Arabia hosted more than 16 million arrivals in 2017.
Indonesia recovered from the impact of large scale forest fires which started in July 2015 and
also affected some of its neighbors, especially Malaysia and Singapore, where smoke and haze
caused an important problem (UNWTO, 2016d). The tourism industry in Indonesia is growing
rapidly, benefiting from proximity to major regional markets, an expanding luxury hotel sector
and greater international air connectivity. Also supporting growth in the tourism sector is
ongoing and widespread government led investment in transport infrastructure which is
gradually improving accessibility across Indonesia's many islands. Indonesia's Tourism
Ministry has announced new tourism policies aimed at increasing the volume of international
visitors - aiming, for example, for 1mn Japanese tourists annually and 20mn visitors from the
Middle East annually by 2019. In order to support this growth Indonesia has introduced visa
free travel for visitors from 90 countries allowing a 30-day tourism stay for many markets
including Saudi Arabia and India (BMI Research, 2016).
In 2015, Morocco (-1%) posted weak results, affected by a decrease in arrivals from its major
source market France. The strength of the euro against the Moroccan dirham, combined with
the increasing number of low-cost airlines and routes between European countries and
Morocco, will drive up the number of inbound arrivals in the next five years. A slight increase in
arrivals and a larger impact on receipts from 6bn to 7 bn USD is already recorded in 2016.
Morocco hosted more than 11 million tourists in 2017 and earned more than 7 bn USD.
Iran reported 5.4% increase in tourist arrivals in 2015. The government has defined twelve
areas in the Sixth Development Plan (2016-21) with solely focusing on tourism. Since desert-
trekking appears to be a favorite hobby of western travelers, the authorities have resolved to
create 2,000 ecotourism resorts by the end of the sixth five-year development plan (2016-21),
nearly a third of which will be located in Lut Desert. The government also expressed that Iran
will unveil an investment package of 1,300 projects in the coming days to attract foreign
investment and boost the badly-hit tourism industry (Dailymail, 2015 October).
In North Africa, international arrivals in Tunisia and Algeria started to grow considerably in
2016 after security problems in 2015 (BMI Research, 2016). Growth continued by roughly 20%
in 2017 for both countries.
In order to compare the performance of the countries, major surplus on the travel balance would
be a useful tool, since it shows that more foreign exchange stays in the country. Table 4.2 shows
member countries by major surplus on the travel balance between 2013 and 2016.