Libya: Change of entry policy may harm tourist numbers

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Libya: Change of entry policy may harm tourist numbers

The Libyan authorities are denying entry to tourists if they don't have an
Arabic translation of their passport - even if they have a valid visa,
European officials and airliners said Monday. According to the AP, the
sudden change in entry rules has emerged after planeloads of European
tourists were forced to return home after touchdown in Libya. Tripoli has
not officially announced the change.

The development reflects confusion in government policies, amid recent
strides by Libya to promote itself as a lucrative tourist destination.
Eighteen French nationals were stranded at the Tripoli airport since
Sunday night, until the French envoy to Libya intervened Monday on their
behalf and they were allowed to return home, a French Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman, Pascale Andreani, said in an online briefing Monday.

Another 172 French citizens who arrived Sunday evening in the city of
Sebha, in the south of Libya, were not allowed to get off their charter
flight run by Air Mediterranee. The plane returned to France, arriving in
Paris overnight, Andreani said. Another 83 French nationals, already in
Libya, were not able to leave Sebha on Sunday night, as the rule change
also applies to tourists seeking to leave.

Some 37 passengers were sent back to Zurich, Switzerland, after arriving
in Libya Sunday on a Swiss flight, also because they were not carrying
Arabic-language translation of their passports, Jean-Claude Donzel, the
airline's spokesman, said. It should be noted that experts predict Libya
is to become one of the world's tourism hot spots. This prediction
appeared in the World Travel Market Global Trend Report 2007 released
Monday, and published in partnership with market intelligence company
Euromonitor International.

Libya - along with other countries in North Africa - has been neglected by
international visitors mainly due to international embargo. Now the Libyan
government is giving high priority to tourism development and has launched
many projects to upgrade the necessary infrastructure, the report said. In
2006, tourism investment in Libya has attracted 73 national and foreign
investors, the General Board of Tourism has reported earlier this year.
The Board said in a report that contracts have been made with 21 investors
to execute tourism projects, and that there are more than 42 files for
associations, investment companies and investors are still under study and
revision.

The Corinthia Group operates a five-star hotel in Tripoli, while the
Italian company Gruppo Norman is building a resort to accommodate up to
3,800 people on Farwa Island. Following the lifting of the international
sanctions, Libya has seen a noticeable increase in the number of tourists.
The number of tourists who visited Libya in 2006 reached 125,480 tourists,
the General Board for Tourism announced.

http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Libya/218822

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