Under the leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE enhances its stature as a capital of business tourism, to achieve sustainable development by supporting economic diversification, developing national industries and vital sectors, and investing in knowledge development and capacity building.

Sheikh Mohamed’s keenness to promote business tourism by supporting a wide range of specialist exhibitions in future industries has helped attract strategic investments in advanced technologies and the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The farsighted vision of Sheikh Mohamed has strengthened the UAE’s position in tourism industry in the region and has led to outstanding outcomes and achievements, benefitting the UAE and Abu Dhabi, in particular.

The Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) has helped generate direct and indirect proceeds exceeding Dhs39.7 billion by receiving more than 20 million visitors since 2005 and hosting more than 3,900 events over 15 years, shaping the future of the country’s exhibition and conference sector.

In line with Sheikh Mohamed’s vision, specialist exhibitions and conferences have facilitated the transfer and localisation of advanced knowledge in the country, becoming a key foundation for the launch of a wide range of local industries in vital sectors, including renewable energy, defence industries, health, environment, energy, transport and advanced technologies.

Under the framework of Sheikh Mohamed’s vision for the business tourism sector, he supported the establishment of ADNEC, in line with the vision of Abu Dhabi and the UAE, in general, to become a key platform for communication and encourage the growth of vital and strategic sectors, through hosting major world-class events that facilitate the transfer and localisation of knowledge and supply Emirati nationals with universal expertise.

Sheikh Mohamed has helped enhance Abu Dhabi’s stature as a centre of business and entertainment tourism by attracting business and entertainment tourists and making a positive social and economic impact.

“Sheikh Mohamed strongly believes in the key role of the tourism sector in achieving these strategic objectives, creating job opportunities for UAE citizens, motivating entrepreneurship and establishing small and medium-sized enterprises, which will support the national economy,” said Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of ADNEC.

Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC), a subsidiary of ADQ, announced recently its achievements for 2021, with the value of its direct and indirect impact on the Abu Dhabi economy in 2021 registering at Dhs2.4 billion. During 2021, The Group made significant investments and expanded its mandate to the leisure tourism sector, which contributed to a strategic approach to diversifying the portfolio.

The UAE’s tourism sector achieved a new growth milestone in Q1 2022, underlining its competitiveness at both regional and global levels, revealed Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs and Chairman of the UAE Tourism Council on last Tuesday.

He attributed the sector’s latest achievement to the unlimited support and directives of the UAE’s wise leadership and its interest in this vital sector, which is deemed one of the future sectors and a key focus area in the UAE’s development vision for the next 50 years.

The minister explained that during the first quarter of this year, the national tourism sector exceeded the growth rates recorded not only in 2020 and 2021, but also during the same period in 2019, which is the benchmark for measuring recovery and growth rates in most countries today.

“It is one of the best years in terms of economic growth in general and tourism in particular, and this confirms the strong comeback of the sector thanks to the forward-looking vision of the UAE’s wise leadership,” he added.

Equally important was the concerted national efforts to develop national tourism, provide a supportive environment and integrated incentives for the development of tourism products, offer adequate tourism infrastructure in the country, and focus on the delivery of high value-added services.

According to tourism figures for Q1 2022, the country’s hotel establishments attracted nearly 6 million visitors who spent 25 million hotel nights, reflecting a growth of 10 percent compared to the same period in 2019. The average duration of hotel guest stays reached 25 percent during the same period, up from 3 nights to 4 nights. Moreover, the occupancy rate of hotel establishments in the country during this period achieved 80 per cent growth, which is one of the highest globally. Hotel establishments also generated a total revenue of Dhs11 billion with a 20 per cent growth compared to the same period in 2019 and resumed operations at full capacity of approximately 200,000 hotel rooms.

Furthermore, Q1 2022 saw a resurgence and a strong comeback of inward tourism flows from foreign markets, as hotel establishments in various emirates hosted nearly 4 million international tourists. India, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Russia, and the United States of America topped the list of international tourists.