|
Tourism The fourth largest country in Africa, Libya possesses close to 2,000 km of coastline. Although the interior of the country is mostly desert, there are spectacular landscapes in the Acacus, Tibesti and Tassali mountains, and the vast areas of shifting sand seas have created dunes sometimes several hundred feet high. Some of the world's most important ancient sites are situated in Libya. Sabratha, Leptis Magna, Cyrene and Apollonia stand out, and are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Unfortunately, Libya has, to all intents and purposes, been closed
to non-business visitors from outside the Arab world until recently.
The Libyan government has now recognized that tourism can become a major
economic growth area, as it has done in surrounding countries, and can
aid economic diversification with associated benefits both locally and
nationally. To this end, the government has commissioned a Master Plan
Study, executed by High-Point Rendel, a British development and planning
consultancy. This study seeks to prepare a tourist policy and structure
plan, a 5-year tourism action plan, and a 5-year tourism marketing strategy,
among other initiatives. |
Infrastructure development is taking place, albeit not on the scale of other Mediterranean countries, and a number of small and medium sized hotel and chalet developments have been constructed in recent years. However, tourism in general is still stifled by the fact that, because of UN sanctions, it is impossible to fly into the country; the prospective tourist must at present have a tolerance of long road journeys.
Since 1997, the decline in oil prices has made a considerable impact on the value of the UK's imports from Libya - which in the same year became the UK's main Arab oil supplier. Sanctions, too, have had a negative effect on trade between the two countries. However, trade in those areas not restricted has remained strong. In the first half of 1997, Libya imported some &#pound;18 m worth of machinery from the UK. This is by far Britain's largest export to Libya, with chemical exports a distant second with t7.5 m over the same period. Other key Libyan imports are foodstuffs, transport equipment, and iron and steel. British businessmen need to be made more aware of the trading possibilities that do exist with Libya, so that they can enter a market where our European partners are taking advantage of the lack of competition. |
| << back |