The tourism and travel sector in the UAE recovered 90.9% of its levels before Corona pandemic to reach a value of 167 billion dirhams ($45 billion) in 2022.
According to World Travel and Tourism Council data, the travel and tourism sector's contribution to the UAE economy in 2022 grew by 60.2%.
Experts estimate that the sector's contribution to the Gulf state's economy would rise to 180.6 billion dirhams ($50 billion) by the end of 2023, a growth of 8.3%, touching pre-pandemic levels in 2019, which amounted to 183.4 billion dirhams.
International visitors' spending in the UAE during 2022 amounted to 117.6 billion dirhams ($32 billion), representing an annual increase of 65.3% over 2021, while it is still 19% below 2019 levels.
Domestic tourism spending jumped in 2022 by 35.7% to 46.9 billion dirhams ($12.7 billion) and exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 10.6%.
This brings international and domestic tourism spending to 164.5 billion dirhams ($44.8 billion), a 63.35% growth year-on-year.
The sector will create more than 89,000 additional jobs in 2022, with a growth of 13.5%, compared to 2021, to reach more than 751,000 jobs, exceeding 2019 levels by 6,000 additional jobs.
In 2022, international travelers returned to the Emirates, with India being the top market at 13%, followed by Oman and Saudi Arabia at 8%, and the United Kingdom at 7%.
The UAE travel and tourism sector is expected to reach its 2019 peak in 2023, with continued recovery and attracting international visitors.
By the end of 2023, the travel and tourism industry's contribution to the UAE economy is expected to reach approximately 10%, slightly higher than the 9% projected for 2022 but lower than the 11.6% it represented in 2019. In the future, the UAE aims for the tourism sector to contribute approximately 450 billion dirhams (equivalent to $122 billion) to the country's gross domestic product.