UAE hotels welcomed 19 million guests last year as sector made strong recovery
Hotels in the UAE hosted 19 million tourists last year as the sector made a strong rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic, which hit hospitality businesses hard, the Emirates Tourism Council said.
The country’s hotels hosted 29 per cent more visitors last year, compared with 2020, and generated Dh28 billion ($7.6bn) in revenue, a 70 per cent increase from the previous year, the council said on Wednesday.
Domestic tourists accounted for 58 per cent of the guests.
The council reviewed the UAE’s plans to develop a tourism data system in accordance with global standards and promote tourism in foreign markets to attract more visitors.
“This shows a full recovery of the national tourism sector and confirms the positive direction it is increasingly achieving,” said Ahmad Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs, who presided over the council’s first meeting this year.
The UAE’s tourism industry recovered well from the Covid-19 crisis, thanks to stringent safety measures, a widespread vaccination campaign and other well-planned programmes.
More than 75 million hotel nights were booked last year, up 42 per cent annually, while the occupancy rate hit 67 per cent, among the highest when compared with leading tourist destinations worldwide, the council said.
The number of hotels in the UAE rose 5 per cent a year to 1,144 in 2021 while the number of hotel rooms increased by 8 per cent to 194,000 rooms across the country.
The sector also posted a strong start to this year on the back of Expo 2020 Dubai and increasing international visitor numbers, a report by JLL found.
The completion of about 3,500 rooms and suites across Dubai projects resulted in total stock increasing to 144,000 in the first quarter, with the occupancy rate surging by more than 77 per cent in January and February, the property consultancy said.
In Abu Dhabi, the occupancy rate was at 75 per cent in the first two months of the year.
Among the primary drivers of the momentum were beachfront and luxury developments, thanks to stronger demand for leisure properties, as well as upmarket and mid-market hotels that posted higher average daily rates, JLL said.
The UAE also announced visa policy changes this month that are set to boost tourism. Under the new visa rules, the country will allow visitors and holidaymakers to enter and stay for 60 days from September.
Mr Al Falasi acknowledged the vital role major events have played in reviving the tourism industry, most notably the world’s fair, which attracted more than 24 million visitors in six months, and the second “most beautiful winter in the world” campaign, which hosted more than 1.3 million domestic tourists and generated about Dh1.5bn in revenue in a month and a half.
The council also discussed the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), one of the projects for tourism development in the UAE, comprising more than 15 federal and local government bodies.
It aims to develop a national integrated statistics organisation that will contribute to transparency and the development of technology to support decision-making in the country.
The UAE has also signed an agreement with the UN’s World Tourism Organisation to support the development of the statistics system. The agency is expected to provide technical and knowledge support under the arrangement.