The Tourism Council of the UAE convened under the leadership of His Excellency Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, the Minister of Economy and Tourism, with the participation of heads and directors of local tourism authorities across the nation.
During the meeting, the council reviewed the performance of the tourism sector for the current year and discussed several strategic issues related to enhancing tourism governance, improving data systems, and fostering sustainability within the sector, alongside reviewing outcomes from the previous meeting.
His Excellency Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri emphasized that the UAE’s tourism sector continues to demonstrate strong performance indicators for 2025, reflecting the effectiveness of national policies and the level of coordination among federal and local tourism agencies.
He noted that this positive performance solidifies the UAE’s status as a global tourism destination and affirms its capability to achieve sustainable growth through diversification of tourism offerings.
Additionally, it enhances visitor experiences from various countries, capitalizing on the competitive advantages of the seven emirates, which provide world-class destinations to meet the increasing global demand, reinforcing the UAE’s reputation as one of the leading tourist destinations worldwide.
His Excellency outlined key results attained by the tourism and hospitality sector from January to October 2025.
He indicated that recorded metrics demonstrate the robustness of the sector and the ongoing demand for tourist destinations across various emirates, as hotels welcomed 26.1 million visitors, marking a 5% growth compared to the same period in 2024.
The total hotel nights accounted for over 89 million, a rise of 6%, alongside improvements in the average length of stay and occupancy rates reaching 79.3%, culminating in hotel revenues of approximately 40 billion dirhams, confirming the sector’s capability for sustained growth.
His Excellency stated: “In the upcoming phase, we will focus on developing tourism governance, enhancing the national data ecosystem, supporting a transition towards more sustainable tourism practices, and utilizing accurate data and analytics to support planning and decision-making. This includes promoting integration in national marketing efforts, thereby maximizing the economic impact of the tourism sector and supporting the objectives of ‘We are the UAE 2031’ vision.”
Furthermore, the meeting unveiled the launch of the sixth edition of the “Most Beautiful Winter in the World” campaign, which this year carries the motto “Our Winter is Leadership”.
The initiative aims to stimulate domestic tourism, diversify tourism offerings across the emirates, and play a crucial role in fostering entrepreneurship within the tourism sector.
It seeks to empower small and medium enterprises and startups to contribute to developing innovative tourism experiences, subsequently enhancing the appeal of local destinations and supporting a balanced distribution of tourism flows, thereby promoting growth and sustainability within the national tourism sector.
The meeting also reviewed tourism forecasts for 2026 based on analyses provided by Euromonitor.
These analyses indicated a continued growth trajectory for tourism both regionally and globally, with an increasing focus on experience-based tourism, sustainability, and the integration of digital solutions to aid in strategic planning for the sector in the future.
The council monitored progress on several key topics, including the reactivation of the Tourism Statistics Committee in coordination with the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority and the Tourism Marketing Committee.
Efforts are being made to improve national tourism indicators, enhance their accuracy, unify methodologies for national tourism data, establish a comprehensive digital database, and bolster coordination in promotional and marketing efforts both locally and internationally, thereby strengthening the UAE’s standing as a global tourism destination.
In addition, the council discussed collaboration with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to enhance governance policies and sustainability within the tourism sector and to improve the national tourism data ecosystem, which supports decision-making and boosts sector competitiveness.
The preparations for hosting the first Gulf Tourism Conference in the UAE, scheduled for February 2026 in the city of Al Ain, were also addressed.
The conference aims to strengthen Gulf tourism cooperation, promote a unified Gulf tourism vision, and accelerate digital transformation and innovation in the sector, showcasing the UAE’s leadership role in supporting regional tourism integration.
Abdullah bin Touq
The tourism sector in the UAE records strong performance indicators for 2025.