Tourism strategy to spur UAE’s diversification plan

ABU DHABI / WAM

A national tourism strategy will provide a framework of action that will help mobilise all stakeholders to position the UAE among the best tourism destinations in the world, Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, said during a meeting with officials in charge of the tourism sector in his ministry.
The minister also called for creating a federal statistical data base for the tourism sector in accordance with international best practices.
“The tourism sector is one of the key sources of national income and its role, place and contribution to the GDP should be doubled in the future in the light of the leadership’s vision to further develop as the UAE has a huge potential in the form of state-of-the-art infrastructure, magnificent diverse natural resources, grand tourism and hotel facilities and internationally recognised historic and archaeological landmarks,” he added, noting that these strengths had contributed towards establishing the UAE as one of the world’s favourite destinations for tourism, shopping and business. He stated that different emirates had launched promising developmental and tourism projects and the UAE will host major world events, chiefly the world expo 2020 in Dubai.
The tourism sectors, he indicated, holds promising prospects for growth and is projected to play a major role in the government’s plans to diversify the national economy and stimulate non-oil sectors to increase their contribution to the GDP as part of the UAE’s vision for the post-oil era.
The ministry, he added, would focus on a number of issues, including promotion of domestic tourism and green tourism.