Staff Writer Holly Briggs explores the implications of Middle Eastern conflict on Tourism Through the lens of a British national
As the current conflict in the Middle East continues to escalate, a question arises: What will this mean for tourism in the region?
Since 2019, international arrivals to the Middle East have seen a 39% increase. This is partly due to obvious factors such as weather and improved air connectivity, but also the region’s perceived safety.
According to the Numbeo Safety Index, in 2025 the three safest cities in the world were Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Dubai, with Abu Dhabi placing first for the ninth consecutive year.
However, it is important to note that the Numbeo Safety Index is based on crowd-sourced data and thus cannot be considered impartial or completely reliable. Nonetheless, the public perceives the UAE to be one of the safest places in the world, a perception that has shaped the tourism industry tremendously.
I was able to get in touch with a British national who was among one of those who deemed the region a safe holiday destination, yet was left stranded in Dubai when the conflict broke out.
She described the first day of the conflict as overwhelming; she was in a pure state of panic, shock, and adrenaline.
“Fight or flight kicks in and to be honest with you it doesn’t really go away”.
Due to closures of airspaces and the increased demand to leave the region she was stranded in Dubai for 12 days. Some days were calm with no missile activity, other days they could hear missiles being intercepted.
She explained how she would begin to relax, then “someone dragged a sun bed or you heard a sports car, [and] you would be panicking”. Going further to say the fear of missile strikes was always in the back of her mind, it was “unsettling, but you somehow adjust to it”.
While walking along the beach on Wednesday 4 March, she described having seen a “ball of fire in the sky.”
“My heart was thumping, you honestly think it is about to come out of your chest”, she said. “You go back to wanting to not do anything and hide”.
Emergency alerts were sent to her phone instructing them to seek shelter. She explained that even the sound of the alert was pure panic.
A 30-hour journey home
Getting home was also a challenge as airspaces were closed and an influx of passengers sought to leave the region.
Her original flight back home to the UK, scheduled for Wednesday 4 March, was moved to Sunday 8 March. It was originally a British Airways flight, but the airline moved the service to Turkish Airlines, a service which was later cancelled. She proceeded to re-book with Emirates for the following Tuesday 10 March, however, days before the scheduled departure, the flight already signalled delays.
Ultimately, the most reliable route home was from Oman, with British Airways. The journey began at 7 am on the 8th of March with a bus transfer outside the Fairmont hotel on the Palm.
“It was a very smooth transfer”, she explained, describing staff on the bus as “transparent” and “personable”. Going further to describe that you “didn’t feel like you were being left in the dark” and rather had a “glimmer of hope” of arriving back home.
Yet that feeling of uncertainty remained.
“You are drifting between two different thoughts; the flight could get cancelled, and we could be stuck again”.
Once in Muscat, she had to wait for around six hours before entering the airport as there were strict entry controls.
The British Airways flight took off at around 2:30 am Monday, taking a longer route back home, lasting roughly eight and a half hours. Once they landed at Heathrow, they were required to wait on the plane again before disembarking.
From leaving their accommodation to arriving back home, the journey took around 30 hours.
She described the process as “very long and exhausting. I think I slept for literally two days when we got back”.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the situation, she explained that the evacuation was carried out smoothly.
On whether she would return to Dubai or the region, in the future, she responded:
“I would not return obviously now, I think I would return somewhat in the future once everything has calmed, but I don’t imagine myself going back anytime soon”.
Her reluctance to return reflects a wider trend, with professionals at the advisory firm Oxford Economics predicting an 11-27% decrease in tourism in 2026, depending on the length of the conflict. This could equal a loss between $34 billion and $56 billion.
Government response
However, as airlines and governments work to evacuate those stranded, there seems to be hope for travellers. The first UK government evacuation flight was scheduled to take off from Muscat, Oman, on Wednesday 4th of March. However, as it faced troubles getting passengers on board, it ultimately did not take off, having only departed a day later.
The Foreign Office has opened a portal for British nationals who want to access government-chartered flights to leave the region. The British government has stated they will run a flight from Dubai for a fee.
More than 160,000 Britons have registered their presence in the region. On Thursday 12 March, the UK Government issued a press release in which they stated that “63,000 Britons have returned from the region, with five UK charter flights having departed.“
The surge in oil prices due to the suspension of travel through the Strait of Hormuz is already having a knock-on impact on airlines as the price of jet fuel rises. Brent crude, which is the international benchmark for oil prices, reached a high of $119.50 a barrel. It fell to $91.58 a barrel after the president of the United States described the war as ‘very complete, pretty much’.
Nonetheless, this represents the fragility of the tourism industry in the face of global conflict.
While the future of Middle Eastern travel is clearly not the most important issue surrounding this conflict, it raises questions of the potential wider global economic impact. Tourism is one of the most lucrative industries for many countries, and the Middle East accounts for 14% of international connections. As a result, there are valid concerns about the knock-on effects this may have on multiple industries and economies globally.
About the author
