Media ININ Economy We Trust
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) revealed the growth of the contribution of the travel and tourism sector to the UAE economy during 2022 by 60.2%, to reach approximately 167 billion dirhams, restoring 90.9% of pre-pandemic levels, and the contribution is expected to rise to 180.6 billion dirhams. By the end of 2023, with a growth of 8.3%, to reach pre-pandemic levels in 2019, which amounted to 183.4 billion dirhams.
In its report, the Council said that the spending of international visitors in the UAE during 2022 amounted to 117.6 billion dirhams, representing an annual increase of 65.3% over 2021, while it is still 19% below 2019 levels.
The council added that domestic tourism spending jumped in 2022 by 35.7% to 46.9 billion dirhams, and exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 10.6%. This brings the total international and domestic tourism spending to 164.5 billion dirhams, a growth of 63.35% on an annual basis.
89 thousand new jobs
The council said that the sector created more than 89,000 additional jobs in 2022 (a growth of 13.5%), compared to 2021, to reach more than 751,000 jobs, exceeding 2019 levels by 6,000 additional jobs.
The Council stated that the year 2022 witnessed the return of international travelers to the Emirates, as India topped with a share (13%), Oman (8%), Saudi Arabia (8%), and the United Kingdom (7%), as export markets for international tourists.
2023 is the year of recovery
The Council expected that the travel and tourism sector in the UAE would reach its peak in 2019 during 2023, with continued recovery and attracting international visitors.
The Council said in Economic Impact Research (EIR) that the tourism and travel sector is expected to contribute to the national economy by the end of 2023 by about 180.6 billion dirhams (a growth of 8.3% from 2022), which is approximately equivalent to the highest level of 2019, which recorded 183.4 billion dirhams, meaning that the sector It will regain 98.5% of pre-pandemic levels, with a slight decline of 1.5%.
The Council added in its report that the contribution of the tourism and travel sector to the UAE economy will represent about 10% by the end of 2023, compared to 9% in 2022 and 11.6% in 2019.
7,000 jobs
The World Travel and Tourism Council expected that the sector would create nearly 7,000 jobs by the end of 2023, bringing the total to more than 758,000 jobs, exceeding pre-pandemic levels of 745.1,000 jobs by the end of 2019.
Fast pace of recovery
Julia Simpson, President and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council, said: “The UAE travel and tourism sector is recovering at a rapid pace, proving the country’s continued popularity among international travellers. The UAE is home to one of the world’s busiest and most successful airports, Dubai International Airport, which acts as a gateway to the Middle East.
She added: The future of the travel and tourism sector appears positive in the UAE. By the end of this year, the sector’s contribution to the national economy will reach the level of 2019. Over the next decade, the sector’s growth will exceed national GDP growth levels and will create more than 114,000 new jobs, which represents one in every nine jobs.
And she continued, “The latest report on cities highlighted attractive tourist destinations across the country, such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi, that it still reserves for international travellers. These cities have shown incredible resilience and strong leadership.”
Dubai
The tourism and travel sector in Dubai witnessed the addition of more than 30.7 thousand direct jobs during 2022, exceeding pre-pandemic levels, and the Council estimated the total number of jobs at the end of last year at about 262 thousand direct jobs in the emirate, with a growth rate of 13.3% compared to 2021.
According to the market monitoring report issued by the Council, the direct contribution of the travel and tourism sector to Dubai’s GDP increased from 29.8 billion dirhams in 2021 to 45.8 billion dirhams in 2022, according to estimates, with a growth rate of 53.8% on an annual basis.
The volume of international visitor spending in Dubai increased from 62.1 billion dirhams in 2021 to 108 billion by the end of 2022, with a significant growth rate of about 74%, exceeding pre-pandemic levels in 2019, when spending at that time reached 106.5 billion dirhams.
The volume of domestic tourism spending in Dubai increased from 10 billion in 2020 to 13.6 billion in 2021, with a growth rate of 35.3%, also exceeding the levels of 2019, as spending at that time reached 10.7 billion dirhams.
Abu Dhabi
The council stated that the travel and tourism sector directly contributed nearly 11 billion dirhams to the Abu Dhabi economy during 2022, compared to 8.3 billion dirhams in the previous year, with a growth of 33.4%.
The World Travel and Tourism Council estimated that the number of jobs will increase in Abu Dhabi, as employment figures in Abu Dhabi are set to reach more than 43,000 jobs in 2022, compared to about 41,000 jobs in 2021, with a growth rate of 3.2%.
It is expected that the volume of international visitor spending will increase from 15.5 billion dirhams to 20.8 billion dirhams, with a growth rate of 33.9%.
The Middle East
In 2022, the travel and tourism sector in the Middle East contributed more than 1.2 trillion dirhams to the regional economy of the Middle East, 25.3% less than the peak in 2019.
By the end of 2023, the Council expects the sector’s GDP contribution in the region to reach more than 1.5 trillion dirhams ($413.2 billion), and that the contribution will be a slight difference from its highest levels for 2019.
According to the Council’s Economic Impact Report, the sector will employ more than 6.8 million people across the region in 2022, up 865,000 from 2021, but still 8.7% fewer than the 2019 peak. The sector will be close to regaining jobs lost during the pandemic. by the end of 2023, 2% below pre-pandemic levels.
Over the next decade, the contribution of the travel and tourism sector to the economy of the Middle East is expected to reach 2.5 trillion dirhams, employing more than 9.8 million people.
