– Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea tourism project secures green financing – The Gulf region looks to ecotourism initiatives such as "glamping" – The UAE is at the forefront of new approaches to tourism – Digital nomads and “long-stay travel” constitute an emerging trend With Saudi Arabia's flagship Red Sea tourism project securing $3.8bn in green financing, various governments in the Gulf…
Environmentally protected areas – including sandy deserts, oases, mountains, beaches and salt plains – make up 5000 sq km of the UAE’s territory, and as the largest emirate, Abu Dhabi benefits greatly from its share of these, as does its growing ecotourism segment. Indeed, most of the emirate’s protected areas are open to visitors, with ecotours operated by groups such as Emirates Environmental…
While Abu Dhabi has long been a destination for business and government travellers, recent expansion of the emirate’s culture and entertainment portfolio has meant the emirate’s hotel owners and developers have also had to widen their offering. This has dovetailed with the expansion of Abu Dhabi as an international transport hub, along with promotional campaigns aimed at giving the emirate…
With a range of museums and heritage sites at its disposal, Abu Dhabi has a tourism offering with a strong cultural element. This underpins the emirate’s appeal as a destination and provides cultural attractions for the UAE’s domestic population. The sector is set for continued growth, as the emirate launched a fiveyear Culture Sector Strategy in November 2019, put together by a variety…
Interview:Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak In what ways will the new five-year plan for the culture sector feed into overall strategies for boosting tourism, and how will this contribute to GDP? MOHAMED KHALIFA AL MUBARAK: In November 2019 the five-year Culture Sector Strategy was released by DCT Abu Dhabi, with an aim to strengthen the foundations of the emirate’s cultural offerings. Five objectives…
The global Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the global tourism industry in 2020; however, with demand likely to be high after months of enforced isolation, the tourism sector is hopeful there will be a recovery in activity once international travel is able to resume. The substantial growth of the tourism segment in recent years demonstrates solid underlying fundamentals. Abu Dhabi has emerged…
The global Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the global tourism industry in 2020; however, with demand likely to be high after months of enforced isolation, the tourism sector is hopeful there will be a recovery in activity once international travel is able to resume. The substantial growth of the tourism segment in recent years demonstrates solid underlying fundamentals. Abu Dhabi…
Following GDP growth of 1.5% in 2019, a shift to a more expansionary fiscal stance in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and associated global economic downturn in the first half of 2020 has helped Abu Dhabi establish a springboard for continued growth moving forwards. While public spending and investment remain important drivers of economic expansion, a major overhaul of the investment framework a
Focused on boosting visitor numbers and overall investment in the tourism sector, Abu Dhabi has announced a reduction in fees placed on hotels, as well as funding for a three-year promotional campaign. On March 12 the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) announced wide-ranging cuts to taxes imposed on the hospitality sector. Among the changes was a reduction of tourism…
Despite lower external demand and a sharp drop in oil prices from mid-2014, Abu Dhabi’s economy has remained resilient, growing by 9.5% in 2017. The emirate is working to consolidate government spending and reshape the economy through a decreased reliance on oil and gas, investing in areas such as research and development, technologically advanced manufacturing and other high value-added industr