ABSTRACT
Tourism is a significant driver in the promotion and enhancement of national and regional economies; however, it can exert pressure on the current services of the transportation system. The interconnectedness between tourism and transport probably remains one of the most crucial relationships. An important fact is that people tend to travel for several reasons, over different distances through various modes of transport, and the provision of transport is located at the core of that movement. Ground transportation plays a significant role in the sustainable growth of the tourism sector. It enables mobility, accessibility and connectivity of tourists between their origins and their destinations on both domestic and regional scales, and consequently, maximum exposure of visitor arrivals to places perhaps not otherwise accessible. This chapter discusses the importance of ground urban transportation in the MENA region on the growth of the tourism sector. However, it is not possible to summarise the position of urban transport into a general pattern for all the nations within the MENA region. This is largely due to the various degrees of challenges experienced by the countries that, in turn, have moulded their reply to the increasing demand for urban transportation. The chapter discusses the development, impacts and challenges of different modes of transportation in the region.
