Iran War Turns Middle Eastern Tourist Hot Spots into Strike Zones

The post-pandemic Middle East travel boom is a casualty of war. 

Shares of Western travel firms plummeted on Monday as Iranian counterattacks to US and Israeli strikes targeted Dubai, Abu Dhabi and beyond. The sudden outbreak of armed conflict trapped travelers, marking a major setback to efforts to transform the region into a global tourism hotspot.

No Longer a Safe Zone

Some 90% of the scheduled flights from Dubai and more than 50% of flights out of Abu Dhabi were canceled as of Monday evening, according to FlightAware. For trapped tourists, the reality on the ground has been harrowing. Passengers on a German cruise ship, for example, narrowly missed being struck by an Iranian cruise missile while docked in the harbour of Abu Dhabi, according to reports. Four people were injured at the five-star Fairmont The Palm hotel in Dubai when Iranian drone counter-strikes set the building ablaze. Abu Dhabi’s major airport was hit by a drone, too, an attack that killed one and injured several others, according to reports.

“This is Dubai’s ultimate nightmare as its very essence depended on being a safe oasis in a troubled region. There might be a way to be resilient but there is no going back,” Dr. Cinzia Bianco, Gulf relations expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, posted on X.

It’s a nightmare shared by a handful of particularly exposed Western firms:

• Shares of Norwegian Cruise Lines tumbled more than 10% on Monday as violence continued, making it the second-worst performer in the S&P 500. Meanwhile, shares of Carnival fell more than 7%, and shares of Royal Caribbean dropped more than 3%.
• Shares of Marriott slid more than 3%. Just last week, the hotel giant said that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates accounted for two of its five fastest-growing markets, and reported an “exceptional year of growth” for the broader Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) markets in 2025.

Escape Plan: According to reports, residents of Dubai have begun driving to neighboring countries such as Oman and Saudi Arabia, where the skies remain a little more open for now. Meanwhile, in lieu of commercial options, a more upscale crowd is chartering private jets to escape the chaos. According to a Financial Times report, private jet operator Luxe Jets has chartered an A320 to take passengers from Oman to Istanbul. Another private jet operator told the FT that fares for a 13-passenger private flight from Oman to Paris are running as high as €215,000.