In the first quarter of 2022, tourist stays in UAE hotels increased by 25 percent, their occupancy was 80 percent — this is one of the highest figures in the world.
The profits of hotels in the first three months of this year amounted to 11 billion dirhams, or $ 3 billion, which is 20 percent more than in the same period in 2019. Almost all hotels have resumed their activities at full capacity, opening a total of almost 200,000 hotel rooms.
In terms of air travel, the number of passengers arriving at the country's airports has exceeded 20 million compared to 8, 6 million over the same period in 2021, an increase of 135 percent.
The contribution of the travel and tourism sector to the country's GDP over the past three years has grown by 3.4 percent, amounting to a total of 15 percent compared to 11.6 in 2019. These figures highlight the growing credibility and reputation of tourism in the UAE. Interestingly, in 2022, an increase in spending by local tourists began to be observed. And the share of the total money spent in the UAE for non-tourist purposes was 33 percent against 67 — at foreigners. In 2019, these figures were 22 and 78 percent, respectively.
Another feature of this year — the growing interest of tourists in ecological tourism: they enjoyed visiting nature reserves, oases, mountains, islands and beaches, desert safaris.