COMCEC Tourism Outlook-2016
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As in the case of OIC tourist arrivals, the Figure 4.7 indicates that tourism receipts in the OIC
countries are concentrated in a small number of countries, almost the same countries of the
main COMCEC tourist destinations. The remaining OIC Member Countries’ tourist arrivals and
tourism receipts data are given in Appendix (Table 1 and Table 2).
Turkey (-0.8%) hosted 39.5 million tourists in 2015. Since the recent developments, the country
has suffered in terms of inbound arrivals in 2015. Therefore, necessary measures are taken by
the government in order to recover the decrease in tourist arrivals.
Like Turkey, Malaysia reported decreases in arrivals due to declines in visitors from China,
Australia, Singapore and Japan. Malaysia, as an important destination in the OIC Member
Countries, realized 6.3% less arrivals in 2015. To overcome these decreases, Malaysia
introduced online visa applications for its major markets. However, there is a highly positive
outlook for Malaysia's tourism industry. Awareness of the country's many attractions is
improving and international transport connections are expanding, making Malaysia much more
accessible to potential visitors. As number of visitors to Malaysia increases over time, it is
expected that investment in the hotel and accommodation sector will expand. Moreover,
Malaysia Airlines and Emirates Airlines are launching a widespread code-share partnership in
2016, expanding Malaysia Airlines' access to European destinations and Emirates' access to
various destinations in Asia (BMI Research, 2016).
Saudi Arabia recorded reported a small decline (-1.5 %) in tourist arrivals. Following the tragic
loss of life in the September 2015 stampede during a Hajj ritual outside of Mecca, the
government, having come under significant international criticism for its handling of the event,
has committed to major investments in transport, safety and accommodation infrastructure in
order to support the rapid expected expansion in international arrivals each year for religious
pilgrimage. The government 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,
dubbed 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 which is due to open in 2016 (BMI Research, 2016).
Indonesia reported a solid growth with an increase of (+10.3%) in tourist arrivals. 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).