Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST) in Arab Countries: Readiness Assessment

Tourism is a social, cultural, and economic phenomenon that depends on and affects the economy, the environment, host communities, destinations, and visitors themselves. Because of its vast range of impacts and stakeholders involved, tourism needs a comprehensive approach to development, management, and monitoring to achieve the sector's sustainability. However, one of the most significant roadblocks to achieving tourism sustainability is the complexity of measuring the level of sustainability and its progress. This paper aims to understand the current situation of measuring tourism sustainability among Arab countries assessing their readiness to implement the UNWTO Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (UNWTO-MST). Data are collected from 14 countries, including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tunisia, and United Arab Emirates. The findings reveal a high level of awareness about the importance of sustainable tourism among tourism stakeholders as a tool for development in Arab countries. However, a few countries have developed Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA), and no country has compiled System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) tables so far. Indeed, the lack of these two statistical formworks represents a severe obstacle in measuring tourism sustainability through UNWTO-MST. Also, the assessment of datasets required for developing UNWTO-MST indicates a considerable gap in data availability, especially for social and environmental measures. The research suggests that Arab countries should follow a modular approach for the development of UNWTO-MST. According to the study's conclusions, a roadmap for implementing the UNWTO-MST MST in Arab countries is proposed.