The UAE’s tourism sector recorded 62% occupancy rate in H1-2021, outperforming 10 other major global tourism destinations.
The country’s hotel and tourism establishments attracted nearly 8.3 million guests during this period, recording 15% growth compared to that of H1-2020. During the reference period, guests spent nearly 35 million nights in the UAE hotels reflecting a growth of 30%, while the average length of their stay increased to 4.1 nights at a 12.5% growth. This Is accompanied by a 31% growth in hotel establishments’ revenues to reach AED11.3 billion. Domestic tourism accounted for 30% of the total number of guests at these hotel establishments, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs and Chairman of the Emirates Tourism Council Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi affirmed that the positive results achieved by the tourism sector in the first half of this year reflect the soundness of the vision and directives of the wise leadership on the importance of the tourism sector as a major driver of the economy.
He noted that the latest achievement is a result of concerted government efforts aimed at developing domestic tourism to attract larger numbers of domestic and foreign tourists.
The minister pointed out that these results are of great relevance in light of the tightening of travel restrictions in some major tourism markets around the world due to the impact of COVID-19. It reflects guests’ trust in the national tourism products, and their competitiveness in establishing themselves as preferred choices for the country’s citizens and residents, compared to other foreign tourist destinations.
Al Falasi said that the qualitative development witnessed by the UAE’s domestic tourism landscape and the growing demand for tourism destinations and hotel facilities within the country confirm the effectiveness of government initiatives to boost domestic tourism.
He underlined the UAE’s continued efforts in the preventive measures taken to ensure the health and safety of hotel guests and visitors and the high vaccination rates in the country, which is at 80% now, is one of the highest in the world, which has contributed to raising the level of safety and confidence in the UAE’s tourism sector.
The minister added that the authorities concerned with tourism development in the country continue their joint efforts and coordination to increase the growth of UAE tourism in the next phase through qualitative projects and initiatives, including preparation for the internal tourism campaign during the next session.
It will also see the launch of external tourism promotional campaigns with the aim of opening new markets to attract tourists to the country. In addition, he highlighted the importance of hosting the global event Expo 2020 Dubai in October and world delegations from more than 192 countries, which will give a great boost to the country’s tourism sector, leading to further progress in hotel sector growth indicators, hotel occupancy rates and tourism activity in general.
