Ministry of Economy: UAE tourism sector witnesses steady growth with hotel establishment revenues increasing by 7 per cent to reach AED 24.6 billion in H1 2024

H.E. Bin Touq: Latest results demonstrate the effectiveness of the UAE's vision in boosting the competitiveness of its tourism offerings, furthering the objectives of UAE Tourism Strategy 2031

The Ministry of Economy (MoEc) revealed that the UAE’s tourism sector is continuing to grow, bolstering its contribution to the growth and sustainability of the national economy. The revenues generated by hotel establishments in the country have surpassed AED 24.6 billion in the first half of 2024, up seven per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2023. Furthermore, the number of hotel guests across the UAE's seven emirates reached approximately 15.3 million during the first six months of 2024, reflecting a 10.5 per cent growth.

H.E. Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Chairman of the Emirates Tourism Council, said: "The latest results demonstrate the effectiveness of the country's efforts and strategies in enhancing the tourism sector, in line with international best practices. They also underline the competitive advantage of the UAE's tourism offerings both at regional and global levels. These indicators are crucial in realising the objectives of the UAE Tourism Strategy 2031, which aims to boost the sector’s contribution to the national GDP to 450 billion dirhams and attract 40 million visitors to hotel establishments by the next decade."

His Excellency added: “Thanks to the directives of the wise leadership, UAE tourism has been able to maintain its growth in terms of both revenues and hotel capacity. The hotel occupancy rate in the country reached 79.5 per cent in H1 2024, which is among the highest globally, growing by 3.7 per cent compared to H1 2023.” His Excellency noted that national efforts continue to support joint action in the implementation of tourism-related plans and strategies and solidify the UAE's position as one of the best destinations in the world, in the light of the We the UAE 2031 vision.

H.E. Bin Touq explained: “In terms of travel and aviation, the country's airports recorded an increase in passenger numbers during the first half of this year. This echoes the international confidence and trust in the quality and efficiency of travel services in the UAE, as well as the quality of air transport infrastructure. The UAE has invested in aviation infrastructure development projects, increasing airports’ capacity to accommodate larger numbers of passengers, with a total capacity now estimated at more than 160 million passengers. In addition, the UAE has entered cooperation agreements with 188 countries around the world in the air transport sector. This facilitates inbound and outbound flights to these destinations and consolidates the UAE’s position as a leading regional and global destination for travel and aviation.”

Significant expansion in number of hotel rooms

The total number of hotel rooms in the UAE has increased significantly, reaching 213,741 by the end of the first half of this year, with 3 per cent growth compared to the same period in 2023. The total number of hotel nights in the seven emirates increased to over 53 million nights, up 10 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Travel and aviation activity

Passenger traffic at the UAE's airports grew by 14.2 per cent in the first half of 2024. The total number of passengers received by UAE airports during the first six months of this year reached over 71.75 million from 62.79 million in the same period last year. The number of arrivals in UAE airports was 20,274,694 passengers, departures totaled 21,090,750 passengers, while transit passenger numbers totaled 30,391,978.