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between 7 and 8 nights per visit. The Minister said he is also seeking ways to introduce new types of
products into UAE’s Northern Emirates. “Each Emirate, from Fujairah to Abu Dhabi, has a different
competitive advantage to offer. It can be so that tourists can start their journey with breakfast in
Fujairah, and move on to having lunch in Dubai,” he said.

Competition from Saudi Arabia

When asked if Saudi Arabia’s rapidly growing tourism sector challenges UAE’s hospitality sector,
“Not at all; UAE has a 60 per cent international and a 40 per cent domestic tourism (consisting of
UAE nationals and expatriates) - split. We’ve focused on domestic tourism with campaigns like ‘The
Coolest Winter in the World,’ which has run for four consecutive years. We are going to launch
another one this year.”

He added, “We realised a huge demand for offerings among domestic tourists. Domestic tourism is
crucial because it is high-spending, and we are working to balance international and domestic
tourism at 50-50.”
Domestic tourists

Al-Marri cited the example of Fujairah’s Dibba Bay Oysters, which exports French oysters to
different parts of the world. “This is a domestic tourism aspect that comes in, and we want to
double down on offerings such as these. I want to focus on domestic tourism because pre-Covid,
we were 70 per cent international and 30 per cent domestic. And when Covid hit, it reversed to 30-
70. That’s when we adapted many of our offerings to benefit local tourists,” said Al Marri.
Increasing the workforce

The tourism industry in the UAE employs around 800,000 people, about 12 per cent of the
workforce, said the Minister. “We are collaborating with the Nafis program and other initiatives to
encourage more UAE nationals to join the tourism sector, offering salary incentives and pension
plans,” he said.
“Globally, the tourism industry faces challenges in attracting talent, and we’re addressing this by
working with the UN on education toolkits to make the industry more appealing,” said the Minister.

https://gulfnews.com/business/tourism/uae-targets-dh450-billion-worth-of-investments-in-hotel-
industry-over-7-years-al-marri-1.1727801392355