In the photo - The Greek coast of the Mediterranean Sea is able to attract a share of tourists-"refuseniks" // Photo: sovereign.com.
This is evidenced by the data of the consulting company in the tourism industry “Mabrian” (Spain), which analyzed the opinions of tourists from the U.S., UK, Germany, Italy, USA and France.
Loss of reputation
The study found that due to the unstable situation in the Gulf region, a number of countries have lost their reputation as safe travel destinations. Bahrain’s drop in the Safety Perception Index was the most significant, down 81 points (to 9.6 out of 100). Oman lost 56.7 points to fall to 24.8 and Qatar dropped to 18.4 (-54.9 points). The UAE, which had one of the best performances in the region, lost 48.3 points. Although confidence in this destination is gradually recovering, it will take considerable time to “regain” more than 50 points.
The smallest decline was demonstrated by Saudi Arabia. The country lost 13.6 points as a result of the escalation of the conflict, but, along with Kuwait, has the highest level of trust among tourists. Kuwait lost 37%, but due to its non-involvement in the conflict has almost returned to its previous values.
Europe instead of Asia
Tour operators are facing an increasing number of requests to cancel tours to the countries of the Persian region. According to experts interviewed by “Mabrian”, these destinations will be replaced by the countries of the Northern Mediterranean and the Adriatic coast.
This is confirmed by the data of surveys. Thus, the British consider Malta and Montenegro as a vacation destination, some of them consider the Southern Mediterranean, in particular Morocco. Germans show interest in Greece and Morocco, and Italians – in Spain and Croatia.
The Northern Mediterranean is one of the most popular travel regions. It accounts for about 30% of the world tourist flow.
“Mabrian concludes that it is premature to talk about a shift in sentiment in the long term. The company estimates that the Gulf region is capable of regaining travelers’ confidence within two months.
