Yemen to attract new tourists [Archives:2002/28/Business & Economy]

FOR THE YEMEN TIMES
Yemen is now more keen to attract tourists from the Gulf region. This is in part due to the decline of the number of tourists in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Yemens tourism sector has lost more than USD 250 million due to those incidents.
Sources say that Yemen hopes to attract tourists from the Gulf countries this year to visit archaeological and historical sites of Yemen.
Already many tourists from the Gulf region arent that much interested to go to Europe or America due to negative consequences resulted from 11 September events on Arabs. This issue might be of great significance to inter-Arab tourism.
Yemen travel and tourism agencies have already started communicating tourist agencies in the Gulf countries to facilitate tourism movement.
Sources at Yemeni hotels say that initial indicators are promising, as within the first half of this year the number of tourists from the Gulf region is high.
The Ministry of Tourism intends to assess the Gulf tourist market, especially as the flow of tourists from Europe has declined to 50 percent compared to the same period of last year.
Yemeni tourist operators regard the short distance between Yemen and the Gulf countries as an encouraging factor. Further, the flow of tourists from the Gulf countries is in part ascribable to solving borders problems between Yemen and both of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman. Many tourist operators believe that a big number of tourists from the Gulf are now more interested to visit Yemen instead of going to Europe due to the geographical contiguity, moderate climate, and tourist attractions Yemen enjoys.
Among the best tourist potentials in Yemen are: archaeological and historical sites, caves, castles, museums and traditional markets.
Hot springs scattered throughout the country form another attraction for natural therapy. The low budget needed for tourists coming to Yemen is very encouraging.
Losing 100,000 European tourists has incited the Ministry of Tourism to promote tourism to holy shrines. Some of the religious sects coming to Yemen for religious purposes are the Bohra community living in India, Pakistan, Britain, Eastern Asia countries, and some Gulf states.
Roughly 20,000 tourists annually come to Yemen mostly from the Indian sub-continent led by the sultan of Bohra Dr. Mohammed Burhanaddine. This sultan has visited Yemen nine times. During his visits Burhanaddine inaugurated many infrastructure projects in the Haraz region, one of the strongholds of the Bohra community in Yemen. He also grants financial assistance to Yemens government.
The Bohra community believes that Yemen is the birthplace of their scholars and holy leaders. Bohrees regularly pay visits to holy shrines of their deceased leaders and thus they disburse significant sums of money while in Yemen.
Yemens government had planned to receive 400,000 tourists from all over the world for the second Five-Year Plan, but the September incidents have torpedoed the whole plan.

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