UAE hotels generate AED 26bn revenue in year up to end July

Minister of Economy and Head of the Emirates Tourism Council, Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, has said hotels in the UAE witnessed growth of up to 24 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year.

In a meeting of the Council, the minister said revenues reached AED 26 billion, with hotels in the country hosting 16 million guests in the seven month period - a growth of more than 15 per cent compared to the number in the same period of 2022.

Some 56 million hotel nights were booked while the hotel occupancy rate reached 75 per cent from January to July, up 5 per cent compared to the same period in 2022, he added.

He said the number of hotel establishments in the UAE reached 1224.

Bin Touq noted the numbers contribute to increase the UAE's competitiveness in the international tourism landscape and fulfil the national target of raising the contribution of the tourism sector in the GDP to AED 450 billion by the next decade under the We the UAE 2031 vision.

The Council discussed an array of topics, including the latest developments in the implementation of the National Tourism Strategy 2031, and mechanisms for enhancing cooperation between the government and private sectors to achieve its goals, as well as following up on the results achieved by the World’s Coolest Winter, is the UAE’s first federal tourism campaign and one of the initiatives of UAE strategy for domestic tourism.

The campaign promoted tourism, natural sites and entertaining destinations and experiences across the UAE, achieving an increase in the domestic tourism and raised the revenues of hotel establishments to AED 1.8 billion, compared to AED 1.5 billion in its second edition, marking an increase of 20 per cent.

The third edition of the campaign raised the number of domestic tourists to 1.4 million, an increase of 8 per cent over the previous edition.

Bin Touq said the meeting saw the announcement of the formation of a hospitality advisory committee, which aims to stimulate the growth and increase competitiveness of the sector in the country and make it more diversified in line with international best practices.

The committee also seeks to improve the country’s attractiveness for tourism investments, create tourism initiatives and programmes, and encourage continuous communication with private sector institutions and companies operating in the hospitality sector.