Middle East Loses €515 Million Daily as Regional Conflict Decimates Tourism

The regional conflict between the US, Israel and Iran is reported to be costing the Middle East tourism industry €515 million, or approximately Rp10 trillion, per day.

According to Euronews, this figure is based on pre-conflict forecasts for 2026 from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) for the Middle East, which projected international tourist expenditure of €178 billion across the region this year.

Regional aviation hubs in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha and Bahrain typically process around 526,000 passengers daily, but these numbers have plummeted due to airspace closures forcing flight suspensions.

The Middle East accounts for 14 per cent of global international transit traffic as a key connector between Europe, Asia and Africa. Although many of these passengers are merely transiting, the region also accounts for 5 per cent of global international arrivals.

Many airlines are currently operating only limited flights. Analysis from Flightradar24 shows that on 24 February, Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways operated 527, 325 and 563 flights respectively. By 10 March, these figures had plummeted to just 309, 56 and 66.

The regional conflict has significantly impacted tourist visits across the Middle East and Gulf region recently.

“For countries on the US and UK government travel bans or flight bans, we have seen extensive cancellations of visits,” said Ibrahim Khaled, head of marketing for the Middle East Travel Alliance.

“Flights are disrupted, and travel to those areas is automatically postponed.”

Tourism Economics has released projections on the conflict’s impact on regional tourism, showing declining visitor numbers.

“We estimate visitor arrivals to the Middle East could decline 11-27 per cent year-on-year in 2026 due to the conflict, compared with our December forecast that projected 13 per cent growth,” said Helen McDermott, global forecasting director, and Jessie Smith, senior economist.

“In absolute terms, this means approximately 23-38 million fewer international visitors compared with the baseline/previous forecast, and losses of $34-56 billion in visitor expenditure. This includes estimated sentiment impacts expected to continue beyond the direct conflict period.”