Page 46 - MOE ENGLISH PR REPORT - FEBRUARY 2024 ( International)

Press Release

The Minister of Economy continued: “We expect the GCC tourism sector to witness a new phase
of growth and prosperity in 2024 for several reasons. Most notable among them are the predictions
by global institutions indicating that the GCC economies will record a 3.6 per cent growth this
year with the support of non-oil sectors. Foremost among them is tourism, especially when GCC
governments are increasingly investing in the development of the sector’s infrastructure and
destinations. Various tourism projects are also being established, in addition to organizing several
major events to attract international attention and increase tourism inflows to the region.”

Moreover, H.E. pointed out the possibility of exploiting these developments to enhance the
sector’s contribution to GCC countries’ GDP growth, support their attractiveness for tourism
investments, and enhance tourism flows among GCC countries. The number of GCC hotel guests
in the UAE reached nearly 3.33 million, making up 12 per cent of the total number of hotel guests
in all seven emirates.

Joint efforts to launch unified GCC tourism visa

Emphasizing the UAE’s keenness to contribute to the implementation of the unified GCC tourism
strategy 2023-2030, H.E. Bin Touq said that the UAE continues to work alongside its GCC
partners, providing all capabilities to implement the unified GCC tourism visa after it was
approved in the previous Council meeting. This visa contributes to highlighting the diverse tourism
components of the GCC countries, increasing inter-city flights and the number of hotel guests in
all GCC states.

Exchange of experiences & knowledge in the field of statistics & data

In addition, H.E. Bin Touq noted the importance of supporting GCC’s joint initiative regarding
the exchange of experiences and knowledge in the field of tourism statistics and data. This will
contribute to enhancing the digital linkage of tourism data at the GCC level in accordance with
international best practices followed in this regard. In addition, it will strengthen cooperation in
exploring new opportunities in the field of entertainment, supporting joint efforts between the
tourism and culture sectors in the GCC countries.

H.E. also highlighted that the UAE values the recommendations and outputs of this meeting and
reiterated its full readiness to enhance cooperation and exchange experiences with GCC partners
in developing joint tourism initiatives and projects.

-Ends-

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