Sanaa, Yemen, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- Yemen's tourism sector is picking up after a 2003 slowdown that cost the poor Arab country more than $1 billion, officials said Monday.
Minister of Culture Khaled al-Darwishan said 70,000 tourists visited Yemen in the first half of 2004, signaling a significant rise in tourism that slowed down dramatically following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
He said a plan to boost tourism has been undertaken in the ancient city of Sanaa with the "facelift of an estimated 1200 ancient buildings that are hundreds of years old and depict the special and unusual Yemeni architecture."
Al-Darwishan said "medical tourism" is also picking up in Yemen, which possesses natural health treatment center with mineral waters that are attracting tourists from the Arab Gulf countries.
Yemeni authorities have recently canceled visa requirements for Arab Gulf citizens, who are now free to visit Yemen without entry visa.