Emirates brings the tourism industry back to its pre-pandemic levels.

According to Emirati Vice President Mohamed bin Rashed, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) declared today that its tourism industry is recovering quickly after the epidemic, with revenues expected to reach over €5 billion in the first half of 2022.

After a meeting of the Council of Ministers, Bin Rashed said on his official Twitter account that “the revenue of our tourism sector is more than 19 billion dirhams (€5.15 billion) in the first half of this year. UAE has been the fastest to overcome the impacts of the pandemic.”

In addition, he noted that total hotel reservations increased by an estimated 42% to 12 million during the same time period. He expressed optimism for a “even stronger recovery in tourism with the upcoming winter season,” which is the best time of year for travel to the UAE due to the mild temperatures of around 25 degrees Celsius, as opposed to more than 45 degrees in the summer. 

On the other side, Bin Rashed, who also serves as Dubai’s ruler and as prime minister, remarked that the UAE’s exports “exceeded one trillion dirhams (271.1 billion euros), up from 840 billion (227.7 billion euros) before the epidemic, with economic growth of 22% during 2022.”

His emphasis was on the fact that “our indicators today are stronger than our indicators before the pandemic, our economic growth is faster, and our tourism, trade, and development sectors are larger than before the pandemic.”

Even though it is one of the biggest oil exporters in the world, the UAE also has one of the most advanced infrastructures among Arab nations, making it a popular destination for both tourists and businesspeople in the Gulf region.