The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) revealed that the contribution of the travel and tourism sector to the UAE economy in 2022 grew by 60.2 percent, reaching nearly AED 167 billion, recovering 90.9 percent of pre-pandemic levels. The Board expects the contribution to rise to AED 180.6 billion by the end of 2023, a growth of 8.3 percent, to touch pre-pandemic levels in 2019, which amounted to AED 183.4 billion.
The Council indicated that the spending of international visitors amounted to 117.6 billion dirhams, representing an annual increase of 65.3 percent over 2021, while it is still below 2019 levels by 19 percent. While domestic tourism spending jumped by 35.7 percent to Dh46.9 billion, exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 10.6 percent.
Source (Alkhaleej Emirati Newspaper, Edited)
