Houthi Extortion Chokes Ibb's Tourism Season
The governorate of Ibb, in central Yemen, known for its picturesque mountain terraces and flowing waterfalls, is facing its summer season under a suffocating cloud of systematic corruption and extortion orchestrated by the Houthi militia. What was historically a premier tourist destination is now a lucrative revenue stream for the militia, funding its activities and enriching its leaders.
The Houthi-controlled Tourism Office in Ibb, headed by Ghannam Ausaj, operates as a private enterprise rather than a state institution. Ausaj, appointed by the militia despite lacking any relevant qualifications, has transformed the office into a family-run operation. Key positions and inspection teams are distributed among his relatives and loyalists, ensuring absolute control over the financial flows within the tourism sector without any oversight.
As visitors flock to the governorate each summer, the Houthi Tourism Office launches aggressive campaigns under the guise of quality control, work permits, and health inspections. The true objective is to impose exorbitant and illegal fees on all tourism facilities, including hotels, resorts, and amusement parks. These facilities are subjected to daily pressure and threats of closure if they fail to comply with the arbitrarily determined payments, jeopardizing their ability to operate and offer affordable services.
The Houthi's extortionate practices extend beyond established businesses to natural landscapes. Famous mountain viewpoints, scenic overlooks, and entrances to popular tourist sites like Al-Mashna waterfall and Ba'dan have been converted into unofficial checkpoints. Visitors are forced to pay illegal entry fees simply to pass through or enjoy the natural scenery, sparking widespread discontent among locals and tourists alike.
Travel and transport agencies are also targeted. The militia imposes stringent and complex bureaucratic requirements, coupled with demands for monthly payments under the pretexts of supporting the war effort or renewing licenses at exorbitant prices. This has disrupted internal travel, inflated ticket prices, and further isolated the governorate from a tourism perspective.
The substantial revenue generated from these illicit activities is not reinvested in the governorate's infrastructure or services. Instead, it directly funds the Houthi militia's sectarian events and imported annual occasions, aimed at mobilizing fighters and propagating foreign ideologies. A significant portion is also channeled into the personal bank accounts of Ghannam Ausaj and his close associates, with further millions reportedly sent to Houthi leadership in Sana'a.
This systematic exploitation has devastated Ibb's investment climate. Numerous small and medium-sized tourism projects have closed, and investors have either frozen their operations or moved their capital out of Houthi-controlled territories. This has resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs for local youth and a significant decline in the living standards of a population heavily reliant on the summer tourist season for income.
The Houthi militia and its corrupt agents in Ibb are intent on ruining the summer season for Yemenis, transforming Ibb, the nation's green lung and tourist capital, into a hub for organized looting and oppression. The actions of Ghannam Ausaj and his network exemplify the Houthi project's true nature: viewing the country's resources and natural beauty solely as spoils of war for personal enrichment, perpetuating conflict at the expense of citizens' livelihoods and future generations, all amidst a climate of complicity that emboldens further destruction.