The UAE’s share of total international tourist spending in the Gulf countries by the end of this year will reach 38% at 36.4 billion dollars (133.6 billion dirhams) out of a total of 96.9 billion dollars worth of tourist spending in the Gulf countries, according to forecasts by the World Travel and Tourism Council.
The council expected that the volume of international tourist spending on tourism in the UAE will increase by 13.6% by the end of this year to AED 133.6 billion, compared to AED 117.6 billion last year, and to reach AED 195 billion by 2033.
According to the council’s detailed report on the tourism indicators of the UAE, the number of international tourists coming to the UAE by 2033 is expected to reach about 45.5 million tourists.
With regard to tourism jobs, the total number of jobs in the travel and tourism sector in the Gulf countries is 3.6 million jobs this year, while the total number of jobs in travel and tourism in the UAE has reached 758 thousand jobs, making up the UAE’s share of about 21% of the total jobs in the Gulf, and 11% of the total jobs in the Middle East region in general.
The total number of direct and indirect jobs provided by the tourism and travel sector in the Middle East is expected to reach 7.32 million jobs this year, compared to 6.8 million jobs in 2022.
At the economic level, the contribution of the tourism and travel sector to the gross domestic product of the national economy increased by 60.2% during 2022 to reach approximately AED 167 billion, which is approximately 9% of the total GDP in the country. By the end of 2023, its contribution is expected to reach AED 180.6 billion, a growth of 8.3% over 2022.
