The UAE’s tourism sector achieved a new growth milestone in Q1 2022 as it exceeded the growth rates recorded not only in 2020 and 2021 but 2019 also, said Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs and Chairman of the UAE Tourism Council.
According to tourism figures for Q1 2022, the country’s hotel establishments attracted nearly 6 million visitors who spent 25 million hotel nights.
This reflects a growth of 10 percent compared to the same period in 2019.
Tourism is deemed one of the future sectors and a key focus area in the UAE’s development vision for the next 50 years.
Equally important were the concerted national efforts to develop national tourism, provide a supportive environment and integrated incentives for the development of tourism products, the minister said.
The average duration of hotel guest stays reached 25 percent during the same period, up from three nights to four nights.
Moreover, the occupancy rate of hotel establishments in the country during this period achieved 80 percent growth, which is one of the highest globally.
Hotel establishments also generated total revenue of AED 11 billion with a 20 percent growth compared to the same period in 2019 and resumed operations at full capacity of approximately 200,000 hotel rooms.
Furthermore, Q1 2022 saw the resurgence and a strong comeback of inward tourism flows from foreign markets, as hotel establishments in various emirates hosted nearly 4 million international tourists.
India, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Russia, and the United States of America topped the list of international tourists.
In addition, he noted the important role that the major events hosted by the UAE over the past months played in supporting the sector.
These include Expo 2020 Dubai, which successfully attracted more than 24 million visitors over six months.
It also covers ‘World’s Coolest Winter’ campaign in its second edition, which over one and a half months generated total revenue of AED 1.5 billion and attracted more than 1.3 million local tourists.