Hotels and tourism establishments in the United Arab Emirates have reported more than 8.3 million guests in the first half of 2021.
The occupancy rate in hotels from January to June this year had reached 61%, outperforming other global tourism destinations including China, USA, Mexico the UK, and Turkey.
This is also a 15% growth rate compared to 2020 or when the pandemic started.
Guests managed to spend nearly 35 million nights in the UAE hotels. The average stay in hotels ranges to 4.1 nights, according to state news agency WAM.
Domestic tourism accounted for 30 per cent of the total number of guests at these hotel establishments.
Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs, and chairman of the Emirates Tourism Council, said the tourism growth is a collaborative effort by the government to boost domestic tourism.
Al Falasi mentioned the 45-day World’s Coolest Winter campaign to spur domestic tourism concluded with 950,000 domestic tourists which also generated Dhs1 billion in revenue.
The high vaccination in UAE also contributed to the increase in confidence among visitors.
The Expo 2020 in Dubai is also expected to generate or encourage more tourists from 192 countries.
