Middle East markets hit hardest by Iran conflict
Why it matters: The Iran conflict has led to over 120,000 lost airline seats in Israeli tourism and a $3.5 billion loan repayment demand from the UAE to Pakistan this month.
- Middle Eastern markets, particularly Israeli arrivals, have lost over 120,000 airline seats due to the Gulf war, according to the Thai Hotels Association (THA).
- The US is expected to be the only solid long-haul market for tourism in the coming months.
- Sri Lanka is struggling to avert economic collapse over the Middle East war (Straits Times Asia).
- The UAE has asked Pakistan to repay a $3.5 billion loan this month amid the Middle East war (India Today World).
- Singapore's Ministerial committee will tackle the energy crisis and wider supply shocks from the Middle East conflict (Channel News Asia).
- Vietnam's Q1 growth has slowed as costlier Middle East energy tests its 2026 target (Channel News Asia).
- A Democrat criticized Polymarket for taking bets on the fate of a US pilot shot down over Iran (The Hill).
Middle Eastern markets, especially Israeli tourism, have been severely impacted by the Iran conflict, losing over 120,000 airline seats, with the US anticipated to be the sole robust long-haul market. The broader conflict is triggering a cascade of economic challenges globally, from Sri Lanka's struggle to avert collapse and the UAE demanding Pakistan repay a $3.5 billion loan, to Vietnam's slowed Q1 growth and Singapore forming a committee to tackle energy and supply shocks.
