One of the main recommendations when organizing a trip abroad, especially to parts of the world that are little known, is to read the recommendations of Traveling Safelythe website of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs which indicates, among other things, the necessary documents, the vaccinations that are worth or mandatory to do, the currency used locally, but also the stability conditions of a certain country.
Some destinations for example are “absolutely not recommended”: this is the case of Yemen, where an intense and bloody civil war has been underway for a decade which has led the armed Houthi group to control a large portion of the territory, as well as causing, among other things, at least 377 thousand deaths. This is also the case of Socotra, a small archipelago of four islands in the Indian Ocean, which from an administrative point of view is part of Yemen.
On the Viaggiare Sicuri page dedicated to Yemen, already in the paragraph with the most highlighted news we read that «due to the continuation of the conflict, it is absolutely not recommended to travel to Yemen and travel throughout the country, including the island of Socotra» .
We’re talking about Socotra these days because a group of Italian tourists are stuck there after the only weekly flight that was supposed to take them back to Abu Dhabi was canceled for unclear reasons, apparently due to bad weather. The group, made up of fifteen people, he said to be safe: their main concerns revolve around the fact of not having official news on when it will be possible to leave again and of being there without local telephone SIM cards and without enough money for a longer trip than they had planned.
«The experiences of the groups that preceded me suggested that the situation was not so risky», said to Republic one of the stranded tourists. The trip of the 15 Italians was organized by the Oltre agency, founded among others by a travel influencer. The popularity of Socotra in recent years has also been increased by these figures, some of whom are very well-known, although it must be said that some reliable English-language sites also speak very well about Socotra. Just a few months ago an article in the magazine Condé Nast Traveler entered Socotra among the most beautiful islands in the Middle East: others speak of it as “a Garden of Eden” largely unexplored by mass tourism.
Socotra has never been directly involved in the civil war in Yemen, although it has inevitably suffered from the collapse of Yemeni institutions in the last ten years: to provide the population, made up of around 43 thousand people, with humanitarian aid, food, water and medicine the neighboring United Arab Emirates have been thinking about it for years, organizing a flight from Abu Dhabi to Hadibu, the largest city of the archipelago, once a week. The infrastructure is minimal, the water is often not drinkable, food is not always available, the few hotels are very modest. Almost only tourists can afford to access the Internet, than for the inhabitants of the archipelago It has prohibitive prices.
But the islands themselves are considered a natural paradise that is home to native animal and plant species impossible to see elsewhere: it is estimated that 90 percent of the varieties of reptiles, 95 percent of the land snails and 37 percent of the plants found there do not exist elsewhere. The landscape is extremely characteristic, also due to the large native “dragon trees” which contribute to giving the landscape a vaguely alien appearance. The archipelago is considered a world heritage site of biodiversity by UNESCO: for this reason in 2000 he was recognized a special administrative status and much of the territory has been transformed into a protected national park.
Tourism has increased, although still in relatively small quantities, thanks to an explicit choice by the United Arab Emirates, which in recent years has increased the number of tourists transported weekly on humanitarian flights to the islands. According to travel blogger Anna Karsten, which was there two years ago, «in 2019 there were 15-30 foreigners visiting the island every week. In March 2020, just before the lockdown, there were 100-120 on my flight, and it’s like this every week.”
The growth of the tourist flow, although apparently moderate compared to the hyper-tourism phenomena seen elsewhere, has led to the raising of various fears about the impact on the local ecosystem, from the poor disposal of waste produced by tourists to concerns for trees of the place cut to produce souvenirs.
As a destination, Socotra is highly cited, especially among tourists who are passionate about adventurous, extreme or otherwise difficult to reach destinations, or among enthusiasts of dark tourism, that tourism that revolves around dangerous or perceived risky places. Others instead recommend it as an unexplored destination, to be reached before it becomes too well known: paradoxically, videos of this type attract enormous attention on social platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, contributing to the fact that the little-known places in question are filled with people, more attracted by the experience itself than by knowledge of the place and the people who live there (who moreover live in very difficult conditions in Socotra).
Just four months ago the well-known travel influencer Nicolò Balini had published two videos about his recent trip to Socotra, one of which was titled “without electricity, without internet and without bathroom 🇾🇪 lost in PARADISE!”. The two videos have currently combined almost a million views. The agency Balini founded, SiVola, advertises Socotra as “an earthly paradise”. But looking for videos of Socotra on YouTube you will find many other videos by Italian influencers with a smaller audience. One of the most popular videos about Socotra, then, simply shows a series of very picturesque views of the archipelago. It was published by the Amazing Places on Our Planet account, which currently has around one million subscribers.
Some of the videos on Socotra state among other things that the island would be a completely safe destination, given that it is not directly involved in the civil war. This is not the case, as anyone who has consulted the Lonely Planet guide to the Arabian Peninsula knows, for example, where the risks of visiting Socotra are listed in great detail. They exist online anyway very complete guides which list in depth both the main attractions of the archipelago and the many risks associated with travel, such as the one compiled by travel blogger Eleonora Sacco.
@ethoventures Have we convinced you to visit 🤔 While mainland Yemen has problems, the island of Socotra has remained geographically and politically isolated from the events that affect the rest of the country! The folks of Socotri are friendly, generous, intuitive, and VERY hilarious! Nothing makes them happier than showing off their island to the rest of the globe! They are SO appreciative for visitors! 🎥: hobopeeba #travel #travelphotography #traveling #traveler #adventure #earth #beautiful #vacations #Yemen #nature #nature #socotraisland #socotra_island #Socotra ♬ Original sound – 🎧