عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

Gulf States Expand Tourism Footprint as Emerging Markets Gain Momentum at Arabian Travel Market in Dubai

Saudi Arabia’s participation in the Arabian Travel Market (Asharq Al-Awsat) 
Saudi Arabia’s participation in the Arabian Travel Market (Asharq Al-Awsat) 
TT
TT

Gulf States Expand Tourism Footprint as Emerging Markets Gain Momentum at Arabian Travel Market in Dubai

Saudi Arabia’s participation in the Arabian Travel Market (Asharq Al-Awsat) 
Saudi Arabia’s participation in the Arabian Travel Market (Asharq Al-Awsat) 

Emerging tourism markets are carving out space on the global travel map, drawing attention for their dynamic participation at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai, while Gulf nations—particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—are accelerating their expansion in the tourism sector.

As global travel gathers momentum, Gulf-based airlines are eyeing new investment opportunities despite lingering global economic uncertainty, driven by shifting trade patterns and evolving consumer behavior in the international travel landscape.

The 32nd edition of ATM opened in Dubai with more than 2,800 exhibitors and nearly 55,000 industry professionals from 166 countries. Held under the theme “Empowering Innovation: Transforming Travel Through Entrepreneurship,” the event emphasized building a more sustainable and globally integrated travel industry.

The exhibition reflects the profound changes shaping global tourism, with cross-border and sustainable connectivity now central to the industry’s development. It also highlights the growing influence of emerging markets and the increasing role of Gulf investments in tourism and aviation.

During its participation in ATM, the Saudi Tourism Authority showcased the Kingdom’s accelerating tourism growth, revealing it had attracted approximately 116 million visitors in 2024—a 6.4% increase from the previous year. Fahd Hamidaddin, the authority’s CEO, said Saudi Arabia aims to strengthen its position as a unique summer destination through a robust calendar of events and strategic private-sector partnerships. The focus is on key source markets across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

UAE Tourism Supports Economic Diversification

UAE Minister of Economy and Chairman of the Emirates Tourism Council, Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, emphasized the country’s growing stature as a global tourism hub. He pointed to the launch of major national initiatives that align with best international practices, support economic diversification, and attract investment in hospitality, aviation, and travel.

According to bin Touq, the UAE’s tourism sector continued to deliver strong performance in 2024. Hotel revenues rose to AED 45 billion (USD 12.2 billion), up 3% from 2023, while occupancy rates reached 78%, among the highest globally. The country added 16 new hotels last year, increasing the total to 1,251, with room capacity growing 3%. Hotel guests rose 9.5% year-on-year to 30.8 million, achieving 77% of the UAE’s 2031 national tourism target seven years ahead of schedule.

Gulf Airlines Gear Up for Growth

Etihad Airways CEO Antonoaldo Neves said the airline has yet to feel any major impact from global trade tensions, with seat occupancy remaining strong despite global uncertainty. Etihad plans to add 20 to 22 aircraft in 2025, with the goal of expanding its fleet to more than 170 aircraft by 2030. Neves also noted that the euro’s recent appreciation could boost European travel to the Gulf.

Etihad, which currently operates a fleet of around 100 aircraft, has significant financial flexibility, with 60% of its fleet debt-free. “If a crisis arises, we can ground planes and save up to 75% of operating costs,” he noted.

The airline plans to receive 10 Airbus A321XLR jets starting in August, in addition to 6 Airbus A350s and 4 Boeing 787s. Neves said while delays in aircraft delivery remain a challenge, they have not altered Etihad’s growth strategy. He also confirmed ongoing discussions with manufacturers and signaled interest in Boeing aircraft originally designated for China but now potentially available due to trade restrictions.

Riyadh Air Nears Major Aircraft Deal

Tony Douglas, CEO of Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Air, said the new airline is open to acquiring Boeing jets initially built for the Chinese market if trade disputes disrupt those deliveries.

Douglas said global economic headwinds have not affected demand and announced plans to finalize a major widebody aircraft deal soon. The airline aims to expand its workforce to around 1,000 employees in the coming year, as it prepares to begin operations in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Commenting on broader regional developments, Douglas said the resumption of flights from the UAE to Syria and the use of Syrian airspace “may be an early sign that conditions are improving.”

 

 

 

 

Most Viewed

 
 
Business

Washington Counts on Insurance Guarantees to Keep Hormuz Shipping Flowing

Oil tankers off the coast of Fujairah amid Iran’s pledge to fire on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz (Reuters) 
Oil tankers off the coast of Fujairah amid Iran’s pledge to fire on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz (Reuters) 
TT
TT

Washington Counts on Insurance Guarantees to Keep Hormuz Shipping Flowing

Oil tankers off the coast of Fujairah amid Iran’s pledge to fire on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz (Reuters) 
Oil tankers off the coast of Fujairah amid Iran’s pledge to fire on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz (Reuters) 

In a bid to break the paralysis affecting one of the world’s most critical waterways, US President Donald Trump has proposed to provide insurance risk guarantees as a strategic tool to impose stability in the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20 percent of global oil flows.

Experts, however, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the initiative may not be sufficient to guarantee the uninterrupted movement of trade and shipping. Iran has warned that vessels crossing the strait could be targeted unless their passage is coordinated in advance.

Analysts say the Trump administration’s approach blends military power with financial engineering in an attempt to enforce stability while calming markets through US-backed insurance guarantees.

Trump announced the policy on his platform Truth Social, directing the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to provide guarantees for vessels operating in the area.

He also signaled that the US Navy could escort oil tankers if necessary. Details remain unclear, however, on how the DFC — an agency traditionally tasked with mobilizing private capital for development projects and reducing investment risks in emerging markets — would structure such coverage.

On Wednesday, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in an interview with Fox News that the US Navy would begin escorting oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz once it had the operational capacity to do so.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent similarly indicated that the navy stood ready to provide secure transit corridors for tankers if needed, with the goal of ensuring uninterrupted energy supplies and preventing disruptions to global trade routes.

Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Gulf Research Center, said the proposed guarantees would not be enough to ensure the safe passage of commercial shipping. Washington could deploy naval escorts for oil and gas tankers or even place them under the US flag, a measure used during the Iran–Iraq War, but the risk of Iranian attacks would still persist.

He noted that Iran retains several options to target vessels, including missiles, naval mines, drones, cyberattacks and underwater strike capabilities. While the US measures might help bring some degree of stability to oil prices, he added, insurance costs for shipping are likely to remain high.

Meanwhile, more than half of the world’s major marine insurance associations have announced that they will suspend war-risk coverage for vessels entering the Arabian Gulf starting Thursday.

Such insurance typically protects shipowners and charterers from liabilities and damages caused by war, terrorism, piracy, and similar threats. Its withdrawal significantly reduces the willingness of companies to load cargo from Gulf ports.

Five days into the conflict, Sager said it remains difficult to estimate the scale of economic losses affecting trade volumes, oil flows, or shipping costs. Much will depend on the duration of the conflict and the extent of potential damage to tankers and energy infrastructure across the Gulf.

Saeed Salam, director of the Vision Center for Strategic Studies, said the US strategy reflects an attempt to impose what he described as forced stability in the Strait of Hormuz. By combining military deployment with financial guarantees, Washington is seeking to contain market panic and reassure shipping companies.

Yet he argued that the guarantees remain incomplete. Naval escorts may offer psychological reassurance, but they cannot fully counter asymmetric threats such as naval mines, suicide drones or anti-ship missiles.

In some cases, the escorts themselves could turn commercial tankers into legitimate military targets, increasing the risk of direct naval confrontation and potentially expanding the conflict from a regional crisis into a broader international one.

Salam added that while US intervention may help curb soaring insurance premiums, it will not eliminate what he described as a fear-driven surcharge on maritime transport. Military convoys tend to slow shipping traffic and create logistical bottlenecks, which in turn push costs higher.

He also noted that oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz have already declined as buyers adopt defensive hedging strategies. At the same time, war-risk insurance premiums have surged by around 300 percent, reaching about 1.5 percent of the value of each shipment and adding millions of dollars in additional costs to every tanker.

In Salam’s view, the deeper challenge lies in Washington’s attempt to substitute financial guarantees for geopolitical security. Any failure to militarily protect insured vessels could undermine the entire insurance framework and expose the US Treasury to massive compensation claims, potentially shifting the crisis from maritime chokepoints to the core of the global financial system.

 

 

 

Business

World Food Prices Rebound in February, United Nations’ FAO Says

A volunteer arranges iftar meals for Muslim devotees during the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan in Karachi on February 27, 2026. (AFP)
A volunteer arranges iftar meals for Muslim devotees during the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan in Karachi on February 27, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

World Food Prices Rebound in February, United Nations’ FAO Says

A volunteer arranges iftar meals for Muslim devotees during the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan in Karachi on February 27, 2026. (AFP)
A volunteer arranges iftar meals for Muslim devotees during the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan in Karachi on February 27, 2026. (AFP)

World food prices rose in February after falling for five straight months, as higher cereal, meat and most vegetable oil prices outweighed declines in cheese and sugar, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in a basket of internationally traded food commodities, averaged 125.3 points in February, up from a revised 124.2 in January.

The index was still 1% below its value a year earlier and nearly 22% below its March 2022 ‌peak, reached after ‌the start of the war in Ukraine.

Average ‌cereal ⁠prices increased 1.1% ⁠from the previous month, with wheat prices rising 1.8% due to weather risks in Europe and the United States as well as continuing logistical disruptions within the Russian Federation and the wider Black Sea region. They were still 3.5% below their level of a year earlier.

Rice prices edged up 0.4%, supported by sustained ⁠demand for basmati and Japonica varieties.

Vegetable oil prices ‌climbed 3.3%, reaching their highest level ‌since June 2022. Palm oil prices increased due to strong global demand ‌and lower output in Southeast Asia, while soyoil prices rose ‌on expected policy support for biofuel in the US.

Meat prices rose 0.8% from January, led by record prices for sheep meat and stronger demand for beef in the US and China.

Dairy prices ‌fell 1.2%, extending a months-long decline, mainly due to lower cheese prices in the European ⁠Union. However, skimmed ⁠and whole milk powder and butter prices increased on strong demand amid tight supply in key exporters.

Sugar prices dropped 4.1% to their lowest since October 2020, reflecting expectations of ample global supply, including record output in the United States.

In a separate report, the FAO slightly raised its 2025 global cereal production forecast to a record 3.029 billion metric tons, reflecting minor adjustments, mainly to maize and rice estimates. It would be 5.6% higher year-on-year.

World cereal stocks by the close of the 2026 season are also set to rise, with the global stocks-to-use ratio seen at a comfortable 31.9%.

Business

Asia Has Limited Options to Diversify from Middle East Energy Reliance

Cargo ships and tankers are seen off coast city of Fujairah, in the Strait of Hormuz in the northern Emirate on February 25, 2026. (AFP)
Cargo ships and tankers are seen off coast city of Fujairah, in the Strait of Hormuz in the northern Emirate on February 25, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Asia Has Limited Options to Diversify from Middle East Energy Reliance

Cargo ships and tankers are seen off coast city of Fujairah, in the Strait of Hormuz in the northern Emirate on February 25, 2026. (AFP)
Cargo ships and tankers are seen off coast city of Fujairah, in the Strait of Hormuz in the northern Emirate on February 25, 2026. (AFP)

Asian energy buyers are scrambling to find alternatives as the Iran war creates unprecedented supply disruption, but the region has limited longer-term options to reduce its heavy reliance on Middle Eastern oil.

The world's top crude importing region buys 60% of its oil and petrochemical feedstock from the Middle East, where the war that started with Israeli and US attacks on Iran nearly a week ago has pushed up global energy prices and threatens to drive inflation and hurt economic growth.

Unable to receive Middle Eastern crude, refiners from China to Southeast Asia are looking for expensive alternatives that will take weeks or months to arrive, while some are cutting output.

This week, China and Thailand suspended exports of oil products while Vietnam halted crude exports, which typically go to Australia.

However, alternative sources have drawbacks including distance, refinery configurations, long-term contracts and cost.

For example, oil shipped from West Africa and the Americas takes 1-1/2 to 2 months to reach China, meaning orders need to be placed three months in ‌advance.

By comparison, it ‌takes roughly 25 days for oil to reach China via the Strait of Hormuz.

Also, switching ‌crude ⁠grades changes product ⁠yields at refineries, which must adjust their operations.

"If you put a new crude into the refinery, you have to change the cutoff points (boundaries separating crude into different products). You have to change gasoline blending. There's a lot of things you need to change. It's hard work," said Adi Imsirovic, director of consultancy Surrey Clean Energy.

"This is why diversification has been so poor in a lot of countries," he said. Energy Aspects analyst Richard Jones said some governments may seek diversification at the margins, but many Asian refiners are tied to Middle East term contracts.

"Simply put, even replacing a modest share of the roughly 16 million barrels a day of Middle Eastern crude that ⁠arrives to Asia with Atlantic basin supply is not feasible," he said.

BIG ASIAN BUYERS

In Japan, ‌which has sourced 95% of its oil from the Middle East since halting ‌nearly all Russian oil imports after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, refiners run ageing plants optimized for Middle Eastern crude.

With gasoline demand declining, refiners have ‌been wary of investing in upgrades needed to take on new sources such as Canada's heavy TMX.

Muyu Xu, senior analyst ‌at Kpler, said Japanese refiners could seek to blend lighter WTI or West African crude with heavier grades from the Americas to approximate the characteristics of Middle Eastern medium-sour.

"The caveat, however, is the logistical complexity and refinery operational risks," she said.

For the nearer term, Japan can tap a stockpile of roughly 250 days.

Top importer China has smaller reserves - roughly 78 days' worth - but a more diverse supplier profile, sourcing roughly ‌half of its oil from the Middle East including Iran, where it has been the top buyer.

China also buys from Russia despite western sanctions, as well as from mainstream producers. India, ⁠with just 25 days of ⁠reserves and reliance on the nearby Middle East for 55% of its oil, is scrambling to find alternatives, with Washington this week giving it a one-month reprieve to buy Russian oil after US President Donald Trump pressured it with punitive tariffs to curb its purchases from Moscow.

'GET SOME SOLAR PANELS'

The market for liquefied natural gas is much smaller and tighter. No.2 producer Qatar's move to halt production due to the war has had a swift impact, with India rationing gas to industrial customers.

Michal Meidan, head of China energy research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, said the situation could lead to fuel switching and demand destruction.

"Long term, South Asian countries could look to limit the share of gas in their energy mix and follow China's model of reliance on coal and renewables," she said.

Tim Zhang, founder of Singapore-based Edge Research, said Asia could increase the share of non-fossil fuel such as renewables and nuclear in its energy mix or diversify its conventional fuel supply.

Surrey's Imsirovic said a prolonged disruption could prompt governments to reconsider their reliance on Middle East energy entirely.

"It's going to be like the Asian Currency Crisis or something. Definitely, people will seriously have to rethink," he said.

"In sunny Asia, get some solar panels and buy an EV. End of story."