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enhancing its competitiveness and diversity. The country has successfully
highlighted its tourism diversity in the past phase, promoting the unique features
and characteristics of all seven emirates, with the aim of attracting more global
companies to its markets. These achievements encourage national and foreign
investments in tourism projects, thereby consolidating the UAE's position on the
travel and tourism landscape at regional and global levels.

Elaborating on the UAE's experience in developing its tourism sector in
accordance with international best practices and making it more flexible and
sustainable, Bin Touq said that these included the promotion of sustainable
tourism practices such as eco-friendly accommodation, wildlife conservation,
cultural heritage, and the launch of national initiatives and strategies such as the
‘National Tourism Strategy 2031’. The strategy aims to increase the contribution
of the UAE tourism sector to the national GDP to AED450 billion, raising the
country's profile as the best tourism identity by the next decade. Besides, through
the launch of the National Sustainable Aviation Fuel Roadmap, the country has
set an ambitious target to achieve annual production of up to 700 million litres of
sustainable aviation fuel by 2030.

Role of ecotourism in promoting sustainability of national tourism sector

Bin Touq noted the importance of ecotourism in supporting the sustainability of
the tourism sector and preserving natural reserves and desert attractions. He
presented examples of sustainable tourism in the UAE, including the Al
Marmoom Conservation Reserve, which balances the experiences of visitors with
the preservation of the environment, in addition to Sir Baniyas Island which has
ecotourism potential. He also highlighted major international events hosted by
the country such as Expo 2020 Dubai and COP28, which also played a
prominent role in promoting tourism growth.

UAE tourism sector achieves record in key performance indicators

Reviewing performance indicators and results achieved by UAE tourism in 2023,
Bin Touq confirmed its full recovery from the pandemic and return to higher
levels of growth than 2019. The national tourism sector grew by a significant 26
percent in 2023 compared to that of 2022 and surpassed 2019 levels by 14
percent. Its contribution to the country's GDP amounted to AED220 billion,
accounting for 11.7 percent. This is expected to rise in 2024 to AED236 billion,
equivalent to 12 percent of the country's GDP, according to a recent report by the
World Travel and Tourism Council.

In addition, this vital sector provided 809,000 jobs in various activities and
tourism fields in the country in 2023, equivalent to 12.3 percent of the total labour
market. With a five percent growth from 2022, exceeding 2019 levels with 11.4

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