Tourism sector in the UAE got a 168-per cent boost between 2001 and 2009 with the returns of Dh36 billion, a recent study has revealed.
The study, conducted by the National Council for Tourism and Antiquities (NCTA), revealed the economic importance of tourism sector, which had a total economic impact of Dhs69 billion in the period.
The figure includes capital investment as well as direct and indirect income.
According to the findings of the study, tourism contributed up to 7.4 per cent of the total GDP of the UAE and about 11.7% of the GNP.
Understandably, Dubai represented 67 per cent of the tourism economy at the state level, followed by Abu Dhabi with 16 per cent and Sharjah with 10 per cent.
The study also revealed that the deflation that occurred in the tourism sector in 2009 as a result of the global financial crisis did not exceed 16 per cent.
Talking to 'Emirates 24|7' from the sidelines of Arabian Travel Market, which opened yesterday in Dubai, Mohammed Khamis Al Muhairi, Director General of the (NCTA) said “that the tourism sector provided 158,262 jobs.”
“The study monitored the full economic impact of tourism from three different directions. The direct effect, which tracks the direct benefits to the industry. The indirect impact, which looks into the benefits accrued by suppliers of goods and services to the tourism sector. It also monitored positive secondary effects of expenditure involved in the tourism sector on other sectors for goods and services necessary for them,” said Al Muhairi, explaining the modalities of the survey.
The study is the first of its kind that took place in the UAE on the economic significance represented by the tourism sector to the national economy of the UAE and its contributions to the national economy in addition to drawing an overview of the tourism sector in the each Emirate separately.
He said that the study faced many challenges in the investigation of the accuracy because the tourism sector is overlapping with several other sectors such as housing, recreation and real estate, air transport, foodstuffs, beverages and other service sectors.
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