Page 99 - Tourism The International Business

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Libya's tourist industry is small and is dominated by visits from other Arab countries. The peak season is in the
winter. Political instability hampers tourism development.
Although Egypt has both a Mediterranean and Red Sea coast, both coasts are not well developed as far as

tourism is concerned. The prime attractions are the archaeological treasures: the Pyramids, the Sphinx, the Temple
of Karnak, Ramses II, the City of the Dead. The mosques of Cairo are magnificent, as is the city of Alexandria. Most
visitors come from Arab countries. The summer months are the peak tourist season.
Middle East

The Middle Eastern countries are Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iran and Iraq. The major attraction of
Israel is religious. The country contains places that are considered holy to three religions: Judaism, Islam and
Christianity. Visitors come on pilgrimages, to visit families who have settled there and to see their Jewish ancestral
homeland. The United States is the major tourist-generating country. Since the 1960s the proportion of visitors
from North America has decreased while that from Europe has increased.
Almost all visitors go to the Holy City, Jerusalem. Bethlehem, the Dead Sea, and the Negev are also major
centers of attraction associated with religion.

A growing number of Europeans travel to Israeli resort areas. Tiberias, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, is a
winter resort that features hot springs; Safed is a summer resort. Most tourists arrive in July and August, although
there are peaks in March and April (Easter) and December (Christmas).
The Arab-Israeli war in 1967 resulted in Jordan losing land on the West Bank of the Jordan River to Israel,
which recovered part of Jerusalem as well as Bethlehem and Jericho. Over 80 per cent of Jordan's hotel
accommodations were on the West Bank. Tourism essentially collapsed overnight. Since then attention has been
turned to the East Bank. Jordan, called by some "an open-air museum", has a number of outstanding

archaeological and historical sites. Chief among these are the ancient "lost" city of Petra, Jarash (a preserved
Roman city), Madaba (extensive mosaics), and the Ommayad castles around Amman. Tourism peaks in the winter
months.
The majority of visitors to Syria are from the neighboring countries of Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. There are a
number of desert palaces and Roman ruins. Damascus features a bazaar with over 3,000 shops.
Tourists from other Arab countries have long visited Lebanon. It is a country that possesses a wonderful climate,
pleasant scenery, beaches and mountain resorts offering relief from the heat in the summer and skiing in the
winter. There are many historic sites and a tradition of hospitality. Beirut alone once had 120 nightclubs and 14,000
restaurants. But the present political situation and civil war has, obviously, had a negative impact on attempts to

encourage tourism, particularly from the West. The central government is not strong. Apart from the political
ramifications, from a tourism viewpoint this means that overdevelopment of some prime areas has taken place with
corresponding problems of visual and waste pollution.
Turkey is a blend of the cultures of the East and the West. It is a Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Balkan
country. Despite its archaeological treasures, tourism development, to date, has concentrated on the coastal regions
of Marmara, the Aegean and Levantine seas. Cruise ships account for a large percentage of the visits. If tourism is to
develop in a major way it will take the efforts of tour operators. At present Turkey suffers from its distance from

major tourist-generating areas and a general lack of knowledge about the country. The leading generators of

Tourism the International Business 99 A Global Text