Minister of Economy holds meetings with Brazil, Spain, Uzbekistan, Georgia and UNWTO to strengthen tourism cooperation

The meeting also discussed ways to increase tourism exchanges between the two sides. In 2022, a total of 140,000 visitors travelled between the two countries. The ministersnoted the importance of introducing new mechanisms that enhance this momentum sustainably and contribute to the development of joint tourism projects.

Encouraging tourism & aviation movement between the UAE and Uzbekistan

H.E. Bin Touq’s meeting with H.E. Aziz Abdulkhakimov, Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change of Uzbekistan, discussed frameworks to support existing economic cooperation between the two countries and the means to expand them to the new economy sectors.

The Minister of Economy underlined the importance of creating more opportunities for the private sector to enable them to explore priority sectors such as tourism and aviation, given these sectors’ key role in diversifying and sustaining national economies.

The two sides also agreed on enhancing cooperation to stimulate tourism and aviation movement between them and providing all forms of support for projects and startups operating in the tourism sector.

Supporting startups in UAE and Georgia

In yet another meeting, with H.E. Mariam Kvrivishvili, Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainability of Georgia, H.E. Al Marridiscussed ways to develop economic relations between the two countries in light of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership between them. He highlighted the importance of optimizing the tools the partnership provides to the private sector to enable them to explore more promising opportunities in the sectors of the future economy,tourism and travel.

In addition, the two sides agreed on the necessity to exploit the growing momentum of bilateral relations between them to boost tourism and aviation movement and to launch joint projects to increase the number of tourists.

The Georgian minister underlined the importance of strengthening cooperation with the UAE, noting that the CEPA between the two countries represents a milestone that will create many unprecedented growth opportunities in trade and investment.

H.E. Mariam Kvrivishvili said: “We look forward to strengthening our partnership with the UAE through the tourism sector by increasing the number of direct flights, enhancing tourism exchanges, exploring new investment opportunities, and providing support to SMEs operating in this space.”

UAE hotel occupancy rates at 75 percent in the first seven months of 2023

Tourism sector is a key contributor to the UAE’s national economic growth and therefore, its development is a priority to the country’s government. Over the past years, the UAE has successfully highlighted its tourism diversity and the unique features and characteristics of all seven emirates to attract more global players to the country’s markets and encourage national investments in tourism projects. Thiscontributes to consolidating the UAE’s distinguished position on the global and regional travel and tourism landscapes, and to increasing the sector’s contribution to the national GDP. For example, the total revenues of hotel establishments in the country amounted to AED 26 billion during the period from January to July 2023, achieving a growth of 24 percent compared to the same period in 2022.

The number of guests in the UAE’s hotel establishments totaled 16 million during the first seven months of 2023, making up a total of 56 million hotel nights and recording a 15 percent growth compared to the same period in 2022. The total number of hotel establishments in the country reached 1,224 by the end of last July, while the hotel occupancy rate reached 75 percent in the first seven months of this year, up five percent.

UAE and UNWTO: A strategic partnership

H.E.Bin Touq’s meeting with ZurabPololikashvili, Secretary-General of UNWTO, explored themeans to enhance cooperation between the UAE and the Organization to support and further develop the country’s tourism sector and promote its sustainable growth.

During the meeting, H.E. Bin Touqhighlighted the importance of the strategic partnership between the UAE and UNWTO, as reflected by an array  of joint innovative initiatives such as the “Innovation & Digitization in Tourism” forum hosted by the UAE in 2022. It discussed future trends to enhance the sector’s contribution to the growth of regional and global economies, in addition to discussing the Tourism Satellite Account project, which aims to strengthen the statistical system of the UAE tourism sector through training and qualifying nationals to work in this sector. He indicated the necessity to further develop this partnership tobuild a sustainable tourism sector with many promising opportunities, and bolster the UAE’s efforts to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development goals in line with the“We the UAE 2031” vision.

The two sides agreed to continue cooperation by launching innovative initiatives that contribute to supporting the UAE’s leadership in tourism sector, and equipping professionals in this sector with the latest expertise in accordance with international best practices.

The meetings saw H.E.Bin Touq, who also heads the Emirates Tourism Council, elaborate on the objectives of the UAE’s National Tourism Strategy 2031, which aims to raise the country’s position as the best tourism identity in the world, and consolidate its position as a leading tourism destination. It also aims to increase the tourism sector’s contribution to the UAE economy’s GDP to AED 450 billion by 2031, in addition to attracting AED 100 million tourism investments and 40 million hotel guests to the country.

H.E.also highlighted the significance of attending the 10th Sharjah International Travel & Tourism Forum 2023, scheduled to be held in November, to explore the opportunities and advantages offeredby the UAE’s tourism sector at length.

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