Gulf tourism losses due to coronavirus could reach $60bn - Arabianbusiness

Gulf tourism losses due to coronavirus could reach $60bn - Arabianbusiness

The Gulf's travel and tourism industry may have lost up to $60 billion during 2020 due to the ongoing restrictions related to the global coronavirus pandemic.

Consultants Frost & Sullivan said in a new research report that the sector's financial loss is expected to reach $50-60 billion, with hotels likely to account for up to $15 billion of the losses.

Frost & Sulllivan said the growth in the tourism and travel sector in the GCC region was about 10 percent during the past five years.

Based on this growth, it was expected that the entire spending on traveland tourism in the region would have reached $110 billion in 2020 but coronavirus dramatically changed things.

"As consumers step out of their homes, maybe for the first time since global lockdowns, they will still want the luxury of a hotel stay but would wish to limit their exposure to other guests beyond their families," Frost & Sullivan said.

Nineteen Tadawul-listed firms raise capital by $3.36bln in 2020 | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Nineteen Tadawul-listed firms raise capital by $3.36bln in 2020 | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Nineteen Tadawul-listed companies have hiked their capital by SAR 12.57 billion during 2020, whereas eleven others lowered their capital meanwhile.

The capital hike processes were implemented by way of a rights issue, issuance of bonus share, or acquisitions, with the aim to expand the companies’ business size, raise growth rates, support capital base, or enhance resources.

According to a Mubasher analysis, the overall value of the capital hike transactions that were carried out via a rights issue surpassed SAR 6.061 billion.

Moreover, capital raise transactions implemented via issuance of bonus shares amounted to SAR 5.549 billion, mostly dominated by Alinma Bank, which issued SAR 5 billion worth of bonus shares.

Last April, the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of Alinma Bank approved a capital raise by issuing one bonus share for every three original existing shares.

The bank's capital rose by 33.3% to SAR 20 billion from SAR 15 billion in a bid to enhance its resources to achieve good growth rates in the upcoming years.

#UAE- #Qatar ties: All land, sea and air ports to reopen January 9 | ZAWYA MENA Edition

UAE-Qatar ties: All land, sea and air ports to reopen January 9 | ZAWYA MENA Edition

The UAE will reopen air, land and sea borders with Qatar starting Saturday, state news agency, Wam announced.

In a statement issued on Friday, Khalid Abdullah Belhoul, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said the UAE will hold bilateral talks to phase out the boycott in effect against Qatar since June 5, 2017. This follows the signing of the Al Ula Declaration on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia at the GCC summit.

He said that the UAE will work to reopen all land, sea and airports for incoming and outgoing movement. Relevant authorities in the UAE have been instructed with these measures, which will take effect on January 9, he added.

The move follows the re-establishment of diplomatic ties with Qatar after four Gulf states resolved their nearly four-year-long dispute with their neighbour. UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash said on Thursday that trade and transport could resume with Qatar within a week. “We are extremely, extremely supportive and positive about the declaration,” said Dr Gargash reaffirming that economic ties with Qatar will jumpstart soon.

#Dubai Sees Airport Passenger Numbers Slump 80% in 2020 - Bloomberg

Dubai Sees Airport Passenger Numbers Slump 80% in 2020 - Bloomberg

Passenger traffic through Dubai Airports in 2020 fell by almost 80% from the year before, as travel restrictions imposed due the coronavirus hammered tourism.

The number of people passing through through the airport was 17.9 million last year, according to the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai. That’s down from 86.4 million in 2019, when the hub was the world’s busiest.

While several European nations shut their airports again after the emergence of a new strain of the virus, Dubai has kept its borders open to all tourists since July.