What happened
On 18 August 2026, the UAE Tourism Council met in Al Zorah, Ajman, chaired by Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, the Minister of Economy and Tourism, with the heads and directors-general of the emirates' local tourism authorities in attendance. One of the decisions was to widen the network of tourism establishments accepting the national Jaywan card: specifically, hotels and tourist attractions. The Council also flagged cooperation with the resident-benefit programmes Esaad, Fazaa and Al Saada, ongoing work on the digital Visit UAE platform, and the UAE's international tourism promotion programme across Europe, Asia, the Americas and the GCC running through March 2027.
Key facts and figures
- Date and venue: 18 August 2026, Al Zorah, Ajman.
- Chair: Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Tourism, UAE.
- Categories added to Jaywan acceptance push: hotels, tourist attractions.
- Partnership track: resident-benefit programmes Esaad, Fazaa, Al Saada.
- Strategic target: tourism contribution to UAE GDP — Dh450 billion annually by 2031 (National Tourism Strategy 2031).
- International promo programme: through March 2027 — Europe, Asia, the Americas, the GCC.
- Adjacent Jaywan headline: on 11 August 2026 in Shanghai, Al Etihad Payments signed an MoU with UnionPay International — Jaywan acceptance across the UnionPay network (100+ million POS, 1.8 million ATMs, 183 countries and regions).
Primary source for the meeting — the UAE Tourism Council statement carried by Gulf News (business/markets) on 18 August 2026; the Al Etihad Payments × UnionPay MoU is covered by Emirates 24|7 and the Al Etihad Payments corporate site (aep.ae).
What Jaywan is and why it matters
Jaywan is the UAE's national card payment scheme, operated by Al Etihad Payments, a subsidiary of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). Cards are issued by leading UAE banks; the network runs across payment channels nationwide. Under CBUAE regulation, banks are required to offer Jaywan as a base debit product — which makes the scheme not "one of" but structurally the anchor of the domestic retail rail. The purpose is payment sovereignty: transactions inside the country clear on local infrastructure rather than only through global schemes; that gives the country resilience in its payment stack, and gives cardholders a benefits programme tuned to the domestic market.
What the Council decided — in substance
The Jaywan decision is not about launching the card (already live) but about acceptance categories. Today, Jaywan is well covered in government services and everyday retail; the new directive is to extend acceptance into hotels and tourist attractions. Technically, this sits with acquiring banks and hotel POS estates: for most modern terminals, adding Jaywan is a configuration change rather than a hardware swap. The statement does not attach a timeline or a named venue list — rollout communications will come from Al Etihad Payments and acquiring partners as merchants are enrolled.
A separate track is cooperation with Esaad, Fazaa and Al Saada. These are UAE resident-benefit programmes (Esaad — Dubai Police programme; Fazaa — Ministry of Interior programme; Al Saada — Abu Dhabi Police programme). What the Council wants from them, in its own words, is "competitive tourism offers and experiences for different segments of society": pricing, discount packages and bundled experiences slotted into the existing resident loyalty rails. Specific terms and partner venue lists were not published in the statement — those will come from the programme operators as they enable partners.
How this ties into the international Jaywan rail
The key context is Al Etihad Payments' memorandum with UnionPay International, signed on 11 August 2026 in Shanghai. Under the MoU, Jaywan mono-badged cards get acceptance on the global UnionPay network: 100+ million points of sale and 1.8 million ATMs across 183 countries and regions. The sequencing is coherent: build the outbound acceptance so a Jaywan holder can pay abroad without switching cards, then push inbound acceptance in tourism categories at home. Together, the two make Jaywan a genuine "home and travel" card and reduce the share of domestic tourism transactions that must clear on external schemes.
Where this sits in the strategy
The UAE's National Tourism Strategy 2031 targets a Dh450 billion annual contribution to GDP from tourism by 2031. Two levers matter — more inbound visitors and higher average spend, both from tourists and from the resident and GCC-visitor segment. Widening Jaywan acceptance in hotels and at attractions is a lever on the second one: reduce payment friction, give the domestic segment a familiar home payment method in tourism categories and strengthen the tourism × fintech × loyalty triangle. The Esaad/Fazaa/Al Saada partnerships add a loyalty layer for residents; Visit UAE and the March 2027 international promotion programme handle inbound demand.
What this means for businesses
Practical takeaways by category — plain and operational.
- Hotels and tourist attractions: check with your acquiring bank that your terminal is configured for Jaywan, and compare Jaywan acquiring economics against international brands. Where the technical readiness is a wash, the operator that moves first on messaging wins — visible signage, mention in booking flows, in-room mentions.
- Retail inside hotels and in tourism clusters: the same logic; separately, worth checking Esaad, Fazaa and Al Saada participation terms — they are a fast lane into the resident audience.
- F&B, tours, transport: Jaywan is already accepted broadly; "Jaywan accepted" is a simple targeting message for GCC and UAE-resident guests who value the home card.
- Founders planning tourism and hospitality businesses: a change in the acceptance network is an operations story, not a legal-structure one. Jurisdiction, licence and tax perimeter are separate decisions — a practical comparison of the free zones where service and trading models most often incorporate is in a dedicated piece: Meydan Free Zone vs IFZA vs DMCC.
- Jaywan cardholders: expect a growing count of UAE hotels and tourist attractions accepting the card over the coming months, and — via the UnionPay MoU — acceptance abroad. A full walk-through of the card (who issues it, what tiers exist, what it is useful for) is in the reference piece Jaywan — the UAE's national payment card.
Bottom line
The UAE Tourism Council's Jaywan decision is small in wording but meaningful in direction. It does not change the product, but it does pull one of the highest-spend categories — tourism — under the national card. Combined with international acceptance via UnionPay and the national Dh450 billion 2031 tourism target, it is a coherent step: a home payments rail, wider acceptance and a resident loyalty layer. For hotels and tourism operators in the UAE, the practical recommendation is simple — do not put off the Jaywan acceptance check with your acquiring bank, and get the customer-facing messaging out.
This article is for information only and is not financial, legal or tax advice. Participation terms for the Esaad, Fazaa and Al Saada resident-benefit programmes are defined by their operators; Jaywan acquiring economics and technical integration are subject to your acquiring bank; check the primary sources (aep.ae, moet.gov.ae) for the current details of Al Etihad Payments and UAE Tourism Council initiatives.
