May 30 – Yemen’s tourism industry, estimated to be worth Dh3.3 billion ($900 million) in 2009, is suffering as tourists are reluctant to visit after the recent bombing and tourist kidnappings that have been reported in the country. “That’s it – 99 per cent of tourism has stopped as a result of the kidnappings,” said Sanna-based tour guide Mohammad Al Hubaishi. Around 40 per cent of the 23 million Yemenis make under $2 a day and many are already out of work. Thus, the decline in tourism is a huge blow for the country’s economy. “We have had no clients for a year-and-a-half,” said Madeleine Schaffner from France, who together with her Yemeni husband, has been working as a tour operator for the past 12 years.
Meanwhile, tourism contributes three per cent to the country’s GDP.
