Saudi Arabia: With global travel returning to pre-pandemic levels, the UAE saw tourist spending rise 70 percent in 2022 to reach 121 billion dirhams ($33 billion), compared to $18.8 billion the year before, according to the ruler of Dubai.  

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum — also the prime minister of the UAE — took to Twitter to state the country has a target of welcoming 40 million tourists within seven years. 

This comes as the UAE has set a target of increasing the tourism sector’s contribution to the country’s gross domestic product to 450 billion dirhams in 2031, with an annual increase of 27 billion dirhams. 

“Global tourism has rebounded after three years of decline. The UAE’S tourism sector has also made a strong comeback,” Al-Maktoum said in his tweet.  

“We remain committed to developing all sectors of our national economy, to build the best and most active economy in the world,” he added.  

The Dubai ruler was referring to the UAE Tourism Strategy 2031, which was introduced in November 2022. It seeks to attract further tourism investments worth 100 billion dirhams.  

At the time, Al-Maktoum said that “tourism is key to diversifying our economy and boosting UAE’s global competitiveness.”  

The strategy incorporates 25 projects and strategies to help the country’s tourist sector grow, as well as encourage investment in a variety of linked industries such as aviation and hospitality. 

It is also expected to attract more foreign companies to the local market, and develop tourism data and statistics.  

The UAE’s tourism rebound is driven by Dubai, which received 14.36 million international overnight visitors in 2022. 

This was almost double the previous year’s figure of 7.28 million, according to data published by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism. 

The emirate surpassed global and regional tourism recovery levels, with visitors to the city in 2022 reaching 86 percent of pre-pandemic levels, according to figures from the UN World Tourism Organization.