However, as representatives of some tour operators admitted in a conversation with a correspondent of Strana.Ru, "Syria and Lebanon have always been the most troubled regions." And they have not yet been able to establish a steady "supply" of our tourists to these countries. "We have been waiting for more than five years for the situation to normalize there. After all, Lebanon has many beautiful places, and it would be possible to create an excellent excursion program there," said one representative of the tourism business.
In addition to the Lebanese direction, the tourism and pilgrimage business to Palestine has suffered greatly from the conflict. The situation has also somewhat worsened in Israel itself. Although tour operators explain the decline in interest not only by military actions but also by the fact that the Israeli direction is generally not in high demand in summer. According to press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Irina Tyurina, "every day there are more and more cancellations of the Israeli direction." "Also, the Israeli airline El Al and the Russian Transaero, which operate regular flights between Russia and Israel, are recording isolated cases of passengers refusing to fly, which, however, does not affect the regularity of flights," emphasized Irina Tyurina.
As for countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, or Oman, the number of those wishing to vacation there is only increasing, as it should be in the second half of summer. According to representatives of travel companies, tourists constantly approach them with requests to book tours, without fear of military actions in the neighboring region. Especially since the United Arab Emirates and Jordan have always been known for being very calm. Only individual tourists ask partners to send an official letter indicating the situation in the country: that there are no hostilities there and everything is calm.
For their part, travel companies usually do not guarantee complete safety to tourists, leaving citizens to decide for themselves whether they should vacation in the Middle East. However, the relatively calm situation in Jordan is also evidenced by the fact that Lebanese are moving there, leaving their southern territories that have been subjected to attacks by the Israeli army. Moreover, Jordan has signed peace treaties with all its surrounding countries (and in particular with Israel), and it never enters into any conflicts. So, representatives of travel firms assure, "you can be calm about this country."
It is worth noting that currently the military actions in Lebanon threaten the unique monuments of Tyre, one of the oldest centers of human civilization. On the city's territory are the UNESCO-protected ruins of an ancient Roman city and a hippodrome. The famous sandy beaches of Tyre, a favorite vacation spot for tourists and Lebanese alike, have also already suffered. According to environmentalists, due to attacks on oil storage facilities in Jiyeh, Rmayle, and Zahrani, located on the coast near Tyre, a large release of fuel oil into the sea has occurred, threatening the famous sands with pollution.