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The four-day Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai shows an increasing gap between the booming Gulf states and countries affected by the Arab turmoil.
The 20th ATM, which attracted 2,500 exhibitors from 87 countries, presents itself on a much smaller scale than in previous years.
Moreover, a glance at the fair reveals a deep rift between Gulf destinations, Dubai and Qatar in particular, and traditional Arab hotspots such as Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Lebanon.
In the first four months of this year, Dubai's biggest hotel group Jumeirah, owned by the sheikhdom's ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, saw room occupancy rising to almost 100 percent.
Also, in the first quarter of 2013, Dubai's airport received some 16.48 million passengers, scoring an increase of 15.6 percent year on year.
On the other hand, the decline of tourism in post-upheaval Egypt could not be bigger.
"Egypt is still far from the 15 million tourists it welcomed in 2010, the year before former president Mubarak was toppled by the crowds," said Mohammed Amin, general manager of the Egyptian Tourist Authority.
In 2012, 12 million tourists came to Egypt, "but most of them stayed at resorts by the Red Sea like Sharm El-Sheikh, while Cairo with its pyramids and Luxor with its temples struggled to attract travelers," said Amin at the Egyptian pavilion at the ATM.
"Tourists are attracted by the political stability and luxury lifestyle that the UAE and Qatar have to offer, and at the same time they hesitate to return to North Africa," said a British tour operator based in Abu Dhabi.
By 2020, Qatar will invest 60 billion U.S. dollars in its tourism infrastructure for hosting the FIFA world cup in 2022.
Last Saturday, Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed said the sheikhdom, home of the world's only 7-star hotel Burj Al-Arab, aims to increase the number of tourists by 2020 to 20 million people from the 10 million of last year.
Also, Kuwait is committed to investing 13 billion U.S. dollars to upgrade its transportation infrastructure to attract more travelers.
In contrast, constant demonstrations and dwindling fiscal budget put the brakes on travel and tourism investments in Egypt. The country has also been struggling for a long time for a 4.8- billion-U.S.-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund.
Tunisia, where the Arab turmoil started in January 2011, had been more successful to get back on track. "The worst is definitely over and tourists from all over the world come to visit our country again," said Slah Dekhil, director of Arab Markets with the Tunisia National Tourist Office.
Karima Chakik, director of strategy and development of Morocco' s Hivernage hotel chain said his country, which was only hit by sporadic demonstrations during the Arab turmoil, had overcome the crisis.
Asked if she was willing to travel to post-upheaval countries, Nadia, a local visitor to the ATM said she had already taken a trip with her family to Egypt.
Even Libya runs a large stand at the ATM, although clashes in the North Africa country still hit the headlines.
Hadi Dandi, manager of tourism projects in Libya's ministry of tourism, said the situation remains tricky with hotel occupancy standing between 60 and 70 percent, adding that most guests are business travelers who come to invest in Libya's reconstruction.
Meanwhile, the expansion wheel keeps spinning in the Gulfregion. The six Gulf states -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Oman, have pledged to invest over 400 billion U.S. dollars in order to expand their existing airports.
Asked by Xinhua if these expansion plans would create over- capacities, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman of the Middle East's biggest carrier Emirates Airline said "the opposite is the case, more airports will be very positive for the region."
