The United Arab Emirates ranked first regionally and 18th globally in the Travel and Tourism Development Index for 2024 released by the World Economic Forum, achieving an improvement of 7 positions compared to 25th globally in 2019. The report from the World Economic Forum assesses the factors and policies that contribute to creating a sustainable and resilient environment for the travel and tourism sector, which in turn enhances the developmental journey of the country. It categorizes the economies of 119 countries based on five sub-indices that branch into 17 pillars and 102 indicators.
The report indicated that the UAE attained first place globally in the index for travel and tourism data provision, in the pillar of "air transport infrastructure," and second globally in the infrastructure and services index. It ranked third globally in the indices for the comprehensiveness of travel and tourism data, air transport service efficiency, and enabling conditions and policies for tourism and travel.
Additionally, the report showed that the country ranked first globally in 6 indices, within the top five in 15 indices, and among the top ten in 27 indices, as well as making progress in 32 indices out of the total included in the report. It is worth noting that the UAE's tourism sector experienced significant growth of 26 percent in 2023 compared to 2022, surpassing the levels of 2019 by 14 percent. Its contribution to the nation's GDP reached approximately 220 billion dirhams, equivalent to 11.7 percent of the total GDP of the country. It is expected that this contribution will increase in 2024 to 236 billion dirhams, equivalent to 12 percent of the total GDP of the country, according to a report from the Global Council on Travel and Tourism.
