Today's Edition
RASHA TABILA (ABU DHABI)
Tourism in the UAE has become a key force in shifting towards a new economic model and achieving the desired economic diversification after recording continuous and sustainable growth in sector indicators.
Global tourism indicators from the past two years indicate the brilliance of the UAE’s tourism sector despite global challenges. The UAE’s tourism sector has recorded impressive results that exceed pre-pandemic levels, according to international tourism and travel organisations.
Tourism Strategy 2031
The UAE is drawing up sustainable plans, in line with its National Tourism Strategy 2031, which aims to attract tourism investments to the country worth Dh100 billion, attract 40 million hotel guests and increase the tourism sector's contribution to the gross domestic product to reach Dh450 billion by 2031.
According to estimates by the World Travel and Tourism Council, the total spending of international tourists in the Emirates will rise from Dh133.6 billion in 2023 to reach Dh195 billion by 2033. The volume of tourism investments in the travel and tourism sector is expected to increase from last year’s Dh28.1 billion to Dh47.3 billion by 2033.
It is expected that the total jobs in the travel and tourism sector will rise from 758,000 last year to 872,000 by 2033.
The tourism sector dominated in the Global Competitiveness Reports for 2023, as the country ranked second globally in indicators of tourist spending, basic infrastructure, employment rates, and immigration laws.
According to latest tourism data, the revenues of hotel establishments in the UAE increased to Dh32.2 billion during the period from January to September of 2023, a growth rate of 27% compared with the same period in 2022.
The number of guests of hotel establishments in the seven emirates increased to 20.2 million, during the first nine months of 2023, recording a growth rate of 12% compared with the same period in 2022. Hotel occupancy rates reached 75% during the first nine months of last year, witnessing a growth rate of 6% compared with the same period of 2022.
The contribution of the tourism and travel sector to the gross domestic product increased by 60.2% during 2022, reaching approximately Dh167 billion. It is estimated that its contribution in 2023 will reach about Dh180.6 billion, an estimated growth of 8.3%.
In 2022, hotel establishments in the UAE received 25 million guests, a 30% increase over 2021. The number of tourist nights increased to 91 million, an increase of 18% compared with 2021. As for hotel establishments’ revenues, they increased to reach Dh38 billion, achieving a 35% growth compared with 2021. The hotel occupancy rate in the country is among the highest in the world as it reached 71% in the 1,198 hotel establishments.
Fitch Solutions, part of Fitch credit rating company, expected that the UAE’s tourism sector revenues during 2023 would reach $40.8 billion, a growth rate of up to 10% compared with 2022.
The UAE ranked fifth globally among countries, which attracted the largest number of new foreign direct investment projects in the tourism sector during the period from 2018 to 2022, according to the FDI Markets Index of the Financial Times. It indicated that the country acquired 4.7% of new investment projects in the tourism sector globally during that period.
The World Travel and Tourism Council estimated the total number of jobs provided by the travel and tourism sector in the Emirates for the year 2023 stood at 758,000, compared with 751,100 in 2022, and the country’s share constitutes about 11% of the total jobs in the sector in the Middle East region.
Spendings by international visitors to the UAE during 2022 reached Dh117.6 billion, which showed an increase of 65.3% over 2021. Meanwhile, domestic tourism spending jumped to reach Dh46.9 billion in 2022, recording a growth rate of 35.7% compared with 2021.
The UAE’s share of the total international tourist spending in the Gulf states reached 38% by the end of 2023, amounting to $36.4 billion (Dh133.6 billion) out of a total of $96.9 billion, according to data from the World Travel and Tourism Council.
The volume of international tourists' spending in the Emirates increased by 13.6% by the end of 2023 to reach Dh133.6 billion compared with about Dh117.6 billion during 2022. It is expected to reach Dh195 billion by 2033.
In terms of leisure tourism, the UAE has the largest share of total visitor spending in the Middle East region, amounting to approximately Dh14.67 billion ($4 billion) during 2022, according to the International Organisation of Entertainment Destinations and Cities.
