World Report

Ammar Mabrouk Eltayef
Secretary for Tourism
‘Tourists want to see something different. This is what Libya can offer’

cradle of civilisation with 5,000 years of history, Libya has beautiful Mediterranean beaches, fascinating Greek and Roman ruins, the unique desert landscape of the Sahara and friendly, welcoming people. It is also virtually unknown to the outside world, but that is already starting to change.

Eager to diversify the economy, the authorities are encouraging the private sector and foreign investors to exploit Libya’s heritage, hospitality and landscape for tourism. The government has decided to fully open the sector to local and foreign investments, with tax exemptions as an added inducement.

Ammar Mabrouk Eltayef, Secretary for the General People’s Committee for Tourism says: “Libya has huge potential for tourism but lacks the infrastructure, and that’s our first objective. It is not enough just to promote our ancient heritage, the sea, the Sahara, Libyan food, music and folk life; we have to build resorts and hotels.

“Then we have to think about the logistics: airlines and airport services, transportation, telecommunications and the banking system. We need to develop the infrastructure of all these areas to market the tourism product. This is our goal for the next ten years.”

Discussions are under way with private companies on proposals to spend billions of dollars on building tourist resorts over the next three to seven years.


Libya’s coastline extends for over a thousand miles, while the interior offers the remains of ancient cities and the unique landscape of the Sahara

Libya is targeting tourists from the UK, Europe, the Middle East and even the United States. Mr Eltayef believes that in the next ten years tourism will come to account for 40 percent of the national income. “The European tourist has been going to Tunisia, Egypt and Spain for 40 years and to the Cote d’Azur for longer. Today tourists want to see something different and that is what Libya can offer.”

Mohamed A. Bubeida, Chairman and General Director of the private airline Buraq Air, shares the optimism. The company is planning to purchase a new fleet and has plans to expand.

Established in the 1990s, Buraq Air currently flies to Turkey and Syria, and is about to initiate flights to Egypt. Capt. Bubeida says: “We are also planning to expand to Europe; England, Italy, Switzerland and Germany are all destinations with frequent flyers that could make use of another airline.”