On 17 September 2026, on the sidelines of Arabian Travel Market 2026 in Dubai, UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri released the sector's official 2025 results. Tourism's contribution to the national economy — Dh251.3 billion (+3% year on year, +22.2% above pre-pandemic 2019). International visitor spending — Dh209 billion. Separately, hotels: revenue Dh49.21 billion (+9.7%), 32.34 million guests and 79.3% occupancy on a room stock of around 217,000. The National Tourism Strategy 2031 still targets Dh450 billion of contribution to GDP and 40 million hotel guests per year.
What the Emirates Tourism Council actually released
The Emirates Tourism Council met on the sidelines of Arabian Travel Market 2026 at Dubai World Trade Centre, chaired by Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri. The Council reviewed the sector's official 2025 performance and cleared the 2026 project pipeline against the National Tourism Strategy 2031. The headline number: UAE tourism contributed Dh251.3 billion to the national economy in 2025 — 3% above 2024 and 22.2% above 2019 (the last pre-Covid comparison base). International visitor spending reached Dh209 billion — the marker for external demand for the country as a destination.
Hotel sector: the 2025 numbers
The hotel data from the Ministry of Economy and Tourism is the densest part of the report:
- UAE hotel revenue — Dh49.21 billion (+9.7% YoY). Growth outpaced overall tourism contribution, indicating higher average daily rates and mix premiumisation.
- Hotel guests — 32.34 million (+5.2% versus 30.75 million in 2024). Guest growth lagged revenue growth — meaning higher spend per guest.
- Guest nights — 110.62 million (+5.9%). At roughly 3.4 nights per visit, length of stay is broadly in line with the last few years.
- Occupancy — 79.3% on a room stock of around 217,000. That is one of the strongest utilisation rates among major international tourism markets (London and Paris typically hold 78–82%).
These numbers set the pricing base for the entire adjacent perimeter: retail-focused commercial real estate in tourist zones, short-term rentals, F&B, transport and excursion operators. At the macro level, tourism remains one of the pillar non-oil sectors and sits inside the diversification narrative — for a broader picture see our 2026 UAE economy outlook: diversification under stress test.
National Tourism Strategy 2031: where the sector sits today
The strategy keeps three headline targets to 2031: Dh450 billion of GDP contribution, Dh100 billion in new investment and 40 million hotel guests per year. Where the 2025 print lands:
- Contribution of Dh251.3 billion against Dh450 billion target — 55.8% of the goal. Over the remaining six years, hitting the target implies stepping the annual growth rate up from ~3% (2025 versus 2024) to ~9.7% per year. That is at the upper edge of historical possibilities but achievable with visa regime continuity, MICE investment and hotel-stock expansion.
- Hotel guests of 32.34 million against 40 million target — 80.9% of the goal. Another ~7.7 million guests over six years works out at about 3.6% per year — realistic on the current trajectory (+5.2% in 2025).
- Investment of Dh100 billion cumulative — an ongoing tracker; large projects (theme parks, resorts, MICE venues) are at various launch stages, and hotel-inventory expansion is included in this envelope (current stock 217,000; incremental target is not publicly broken out in the strategy).
The nature and eco-tourism layer
The Council report also included a piece that mainstream feeds usually skip: at the end of 2025, the UAE has 55 nature reserves and 4,900 hectares of rehabilitated desert, mountain and coastal terrain. That is a distinct eco-tourism proposition — beyond the classic beach-and-shopping product: desert safari at Al Wathba (Abu Dhabi), Sir Bani Yas reserve, Jebel Ali National Park, Fujairah coral zones. For hospitality investors it is a separate niche with longer-payback projects and a premium average check.
What this means for business in the UAE
The practical takeaways for owners and investors:
- Adjacent business demand is durable. At 32.3 million hotel guests and 110.6 million nights per year, volumes for F&B, retail, transport and experiences keep expanding. Short-term rentals: growth in guests and nights translates directly into holiday-home occupancy — subject to DTCM (Dubai) and DCT (Abu Dhabi) licensing standards and tourism tax.
- The regulatory perimeter is tightening. Abu Dhabi's healthy-menu rules for hotels and DCT-licensed F&B move to full enforcement on 1 October 2026 (SEHHI standards). Dubai's DTCM is updating the hotel classification manual. Regulation itself is positive (quality baseline), but menu refreshes, staff training and compliance spend must be budgeted for 2026.
- Entering the tourism business is a window of opportunity. Steady sector growth makes F&B, hospitality and tour-operator lines among the most in-demand for new UAE licences. A practical starting budget breakdown is in our guide to how much it costs to set up a company in the UAE — the 2026 estimate.
- Gross yield is not net yield. Marketing numbers on hospitality assets often quote 6–9% gross rental yield. After service charges, OTA commissions, vacancy, tourism tax and municipal fees, net yield is materially lower. Short-term rental investors need to model realistic inputs, not the headline figure.
- ATM as the communication channel. The government releases annual results and strategic projects specifically through Arabian Travel Market rather than intermediate press releases. For B2B players it is the key monitoring point — the next round of results and updates lands at ATM 2027.
What to watch next
Points to track through 2026–2027: official updates to the National Tourism Strategy 2031 (published by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism); phase-2 healthy-menu enforcement by Abu Dhabi PHC from 1 October 2026; the updated DCT Abu Dhabi Hotel Classification Manual; quarterly emirate-level hotel occupancy prints (typically released separately by DET Dubai and DCT Abu Dhabi); and announcements of new hospitality investments under the Dh100 billion strategy envelope. We will follow the official releases from the Emirates Tourism Council, WAM and the Ministry of Economy and Tourism and update the piece as they land.
