Following the announcement of the UAE’s Domestic Tourism Strategy and Unified Tourism Identity by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, a joint meeting was held to discuss the future of domestic tourism in the UAE, organised by the UAE Government Media Office.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Ahmed Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State of Entrepreneurship and SMEs, who responded to questions from the editors-in-chief of local and regional newspapers and TV channels.

During the meeting, Dr. Al Falasi said that the UAE, which has become an international tourism destination which attracts over 27 million tourists annually, offers many opportunities in the area of domestic tourism.

He added that the strategy, which was announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, will help create a diverse economy based on innovation and foreseeing opportunities in various emerging sectors, provide additional sources of income, enhance economic resources, and generate new job opportunities in the tourism sector, with the aim of placing the country among the ten leading tourism destinations in the world, and the leading tourism destination by 2030.

He also pointed out that the adoption of the Unified Tourism Identity will encourage investment in tourism and strengthen the contribution of the tourism sector to national GDP, noting that it accounted for 11.9 percent of overall GDP in 2019, and hoping that this will increase to 15 percent in the coming decade.

He also stressed the importance of drafting a comprehensive tourism investment programme, in cooperation with relevant authorities, economic event organisers, investors and owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), to build capacities in this vital sector and promote the Unified Tourism Identity, as part of the media identity of the UAE and its flexible economic system.

The meeting highlighted the achievements of the UAE’s tourism sector and its prominent stature on the list of the top ten countries that attracted over 10 million tourists during the last decade, and presented several indexes related to the country’s tourism sector in 2019, which were issued by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), including the creation of 745,000 opportunities, attracting 32 million tourists, and a hotel occupancy rate of 73 percent.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of local tourism authorities and departments from the country’s emirates.