Tourism industry in the United Arab Emirates up to the first half of 2024 has proven to be strong and dynamic, of which Dubai has stood out to be among the strongest global tourists’ destination. In figures provided by the Department of Economy and Tourism, overnight visitor arrivals reached 9.31 million between January and June 2024. This numbers increased by 9% than the similar period in 2023. This increase in visitor numbers has further proved the emirate’s position as a global tourism destination and the effectiveness of the effort of diversifying its product.
There are several important factors that have been notably contributing to this kind of growth; they include relaxation of travel ban, creative marketing strategies, and the offering of new themes, shows, rides, and others. This has ensured the city maintains a location that is strategically positioned, has world class infrastructure and is well marketed as being luxury and hospitable. The city has also been able to attract many business travelers due to its conventions and great facilities to support the MICE sector.
But at the same time it was noted that the growth of this sector is motivated by the measures on development of ecological- friendly tourism. The UAE has been particularly keen on proactively introducing initiatives encouraging people to choose environmentally friendly means of travelling and experiences in the course of their travels. This approach has appealed with the green /nature conscious travelers especially those from European and Northern America.
Tourism industry success has impacted one way or the other in different sectors in the UAE. Accommodation organisations have indicated that average occupancy is high and many luxury hotels around the globe are fully booked. Other sectors which have also received positive impacts include the retail sub-sector through shopping malls, and tradition souks enjoying high traffic from the foreigners. Also, the food and beverage sector has grown enormously; Dubai’s restaurant variety still remains one of the city’s biggest attractions.
One of the other emerging trends in the UAE’s tourism market is the rapid growth of cultural tourism. Especially, the capital city – Abu Dhabi has achieved excellent progress in this direction as to such significant cultural bridges as the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the future Guggenheim Abu Dhabi museums. The emirate has also been quite effective in marketing the culture and traditions its heritage sites, where people who would want to experience the Emirati culture visit.
The UAE’s aviation industry has been pivotal in this growth of the tourism industry. A few examples of the increase could include the following, Emirates and Etihad have increased the number of flights they offer on their existing routes and have also added new routs to their networks. The existing and the past collaboration with other international airlines has also contributed to boosting the connectivity scenarios; tourism is also benefitting from the fact that it has become easier for anyone to access the UAE from different parts of the world.
Moving to the future, according to specialist’s expectation, the positive tendency will be preserved all year round and the winter season also would bring a higher rate of tourists in the UAE. The country is continuously looking for ways on how to develop other types of tourism and in light with its stable image, the country has great potential to grow in the tourism industry.
In as much as the UAE diversifies its economy and searches for other economic pillars, it is apparent that tourism will continue to be one of the key new economy pillars. There are new projects and programme under the preparation in other parts of the country that ensures that the nation continues to be prominent tourist destinations in the coming years.
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