UAE’s tourism sector generated a total revenue of AED11.3 billion (US$3 billion) during the first six months of 2021.
The Emirates Tourism Council has revealed some promising figures, signalling the continued recovery of the UAE’s tourism sector. The data was shared at the Council’s third meeting, chaired virtually by Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs in the presence of local tourism officials.
The country’s hotels saw an increase in average occupancy rate to 62% during the first half of 2021, compared to 54% during the same period in 2020, and the total number of hotel guests during the first half of 2021 reached 8.3 million guests nationwide, a 15% increase YOY.
In addition, the number of domestic tourists reached 2.3 million during H1, up 77% compared to 1.3 million hotel guests during the same period in 2020.
Al Falasi commented: “The tourism sector was able to achieve outstanding performance rates and enhanced the level of recovery from the impact of the Covid-19 crisis to stand today and move towards a new stage of growth and development to further increase its contribution to supporting the national economy.”
The Emirates Tourism Council has approved a joint action plan with the Ministry of Economy and local tourism departments, which aims to increase the inflow of international tourists to the UAE as well as attract tourists from new markets.
The plan includes large-scale promotional campaigns targeting several destinations that could drive tourists to visit the UAE, introducing the long-term and multiple-entry tourist visa recently announced by the government.
