UAE tourism sector performance in Q1 2022 exceeds pre-pandemic growth rates

• Published date: 19 May 2022
• Publication title: LETA

Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs and Chairman of the UAE Tourism Council, revealed that the UAE's tourism sector achieved a new growth milestone in Q1 2022, underlining its competitiveness at both regional and global levels.

He attributed the sector's latest achievement to the unlimited support and directives of the UAE's wise leadership and its interest in this vital sector, which is deemed one of the future sectors and a key focus area in the UAE's development vision for the next 50 years.

The Minister explained that during the first quarter of this year, the national tourism sector exceeded the growth rates recorded not only in 2020 and 2021, but also during the same period in 2019, which is the benchmark for measuring recovery and growth rates in most countries today.

"It is one of the best years in terms of economic growth in general and tourism in particular, and this confirms the strong comeback of the sector thanks to the forward-looking vision of the UAE's wise leadership," he added.

Equally important was the concerted national efforts to develop national tourism, provide a supportive environment and integrated incentives for the development of tourism products, offer adequate tourism infrastructure in the country, and focus on the delivery of high value-added services.

According to tourism figures for Q1 2022, the country's hotel establishments attracted nearly 6 million visitors who spent 25 million hotel nights, reflecting a growth of 10 percent compared to the same period in 2019. The average duration of hotel guest stays reached 25 percent during the same period, up from 3 nights to 4 nights. Moreover, the occupancy rate of hotel establishments in the country during this period achieved 80 percent growth, which is one of the highest globally. Hotel establishments also generated a total revenue of AED 11 billion with a 20 percent growth compared to the same period in 2019 and resumed operations at full capacity of approximately...