Tourism investment in the UAE is expected to climb by nearly 10 percent in 2023 as the Gulf nation is returning to pre-pandemic boom levels, according to a global report.

Tourism and travel investments in the second largest Arab economy could reach 28.1 billion UAE dirhams ($7.65 billion) this year compared with around AED25.6 billion ($6.97 billion) in 2022, said the report by the London-based World Travel and Tourism Council.

The report, published by the semi-official UAE daily Alittihad on Friday, projected such investments to swell to AED47.3 billion ($12.88 billion) in 2033.

The rise is expected to boost the share of tourism investment in total capital to 9.1 percent in 2023 from nearly 8.3 percent in 2022, the report said.

The sector’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product is also projected to rise by around 8.3 percent to AED180.6 billion ($49.2 billion) in 2023, it showed.

“This contribution in 2023 almost matches the 2019 high of AED183.4 billion ($49.9 billion), only about1.5 percent behind pre-pandemic levels….This represents nearly 10 percent of the total economy.”

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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