The Emirates participates in"Tourise World Tourism Summit" In Riyadh

RIYADH, 13th November, 2017 (WAM) – His Excellency Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Tourism, participated in the “Tourise World Tourism Summit”, which was hosted by Riyadh under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the period from 11 to 13 November, with the aim of examining the future of global tourism, enhancing connectivity between international destinations, exchanging experiences in developing sustainable tourism policies, stimulating cross-border partnerships and investments, and creating qualitative solutions that contribute to building a global tourism sector more capable of facing challenges and achieving success. Long-term economic and social development.

This participation came within the framework of the visit of the United Arab Emirates delegation to Saudi Arabia, headed by His Excellency Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Tourism, to attend the work of the 26th session of the United Nations Tourism Organization, which witnessed the official announcement of the selection of Her Excellency Sheikha Nasser Al Nowais as Secretary-General of the organization for the period from 2026 to 2029 after the approval of the organization’s General Assembly.

His Excellency Abdullah bin Touq stressed in his speech during the summit that the UAE, thanks to the directives of its wise leadership and its ambitious future vision, has established its position among the most prominent global tourist destinations for millions of visitors from all over the world, through advanced infrastructure, policies that support sustainable growth, and qualitative initiatives that have enhanced the competitiveness of the national tourism sector.

He pointed out that the country has succeeded in combining diversification in tourism activities and providing rich and diverse experiences for visitors, in addition to consolidating the principles of sustainability in all its tourism projects and programmes, confirming its global leadership as a diversified and sustainable economic model.

His Excellency Bin Touq explained that the tourism sector in the UAE continues to achieve rapid growth rates driven by flexible policies, stimulating legislation, and huge investments in developing aviation facilities, hospitality facilities, and smart tourism services, in addition to an advanced system for tourist visas that has facilitated the entry of visitors from various countries of the world.

He added that these efforts were reflected in the increase in the number of international visitors and the enhancement of tourism’s contribution to the country’s gross domestic product.

His Excellency Abdullah bin Touq reviewed the UAE’s pioneering experience in developing its tourism sector, and the most prominent indicators that reflect the development of the national tourism business environment, which contributed to consolidating the country’s position as a preferred global destination for tourism companies and investors, as the number of commercial licenses operating in tourism, hospitality, aviation, air transport, aviation technologies, and tourism digital solutions reached 39,546 licenses as of mid-September 2025, which reflects the UAE’s leadership as an incubator environment for tourism projects and qualitative investments in this sector. Bio sector.

His Excellency noted that the Tourise Summit constitutes an important global platform starting from the sister Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to discover opportunities for growth and prosperity of the tourism sector regionally and internationally, and to exchange experiences and visions about the future of tourism in light of the rapid economic and technological transformations, which reflects the growing role of the region as a global center for tourism and hospitality.

During the summit, His Excellency Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri participated in a dialogue session entitled “Air Connectivity: Opening the Horizons of Global Connectivity,” alongside Her Excellency Patricia de Lille, Minister of Tourism of South Africa. His Excellency Abdulaziz Al-Duailej, Chairman of the General Authority of Civil Aviation in Saudi Arabia; And Tony Douglas, CEO of Riyadh Air.

The session discussed the importance of developing air transport networks and their pivotal role in supporting the growth of the global tourism industry, facilitating transportation between tourist destinations, and reviewed possible solutions to expand connectivity between emerging markets and international centers through partnerships and investments in infrastructure and modern technology.

His Excellency Abdullah bin Touq said during the session: “The UAE believes that the future of tourism depends on building a more integrated air and tourism network between the countries of the world, led by the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which possess unique ingredients for growth and integration in the tourism, travel and hospitality sectors, in addition to global tourist destinations suitable for visitors from all over the world.”

His Excellency added: “The aviation sector in the UAE has signed air transport services agreements with 189 countries around the world, which reflects the country’s pivotal role in enhancing international air connectivity. Among these agreements, there are 120 fully liberated agreements in accordance with the “Open Skies” system, while 43 other agreements were partially liberated, which highlights the UAE’s openness to international cooperation in the aviation sector and its continuous endeavor to expand its global air links network.

In this context, His Excellency indicated an increase in passenger traffic through UAE airports from 114.8 million passengers in 2015 to 147.8 million passengers in 2024, a growth of 28.7%, including the movement of arriving, departing and transiting passengers, while the movement of incoming and departing aircraft increased to reach more than 800 thousand movements by the end of 2024.

His Excellency explained that the UAE adopts flexible visa policies based on simplifying procedures and expanding periods of stay, as it provides tourist visas for 30, 60 and 90 days, in addition to multiple entry and transit visa options.

These facilities include the possibility of obtaining a visa upon arrival or through the electronic portal and airlines for many nationalities, which contributes to facilitating travel for families and groups, enhances the chances of repeat visits, and provides a comfortable and smooth tourist experience for visitors.

This type of visa reflects the UAE’s vision to be a welcoming gateway for tourists from different countries of the world, which consolidates its position as a preferred global tourist destination.

His Excellency added that hotel establishments in the country received more than 16 million guests during the first half of the current year, with a growth rate of 5.5% compared to the same period in 2024, and the number of guests of hotel establishments in the UAE market reached approximately 30.8 million guests during the past year, with a growth rate of 9.5% compared to the year 2023, and the number of Gulf visitors to the UAE reached about 3.3 million visitors in 2024. They constituted 11% of the total hotel guests in the country.

His Excellency stressed that technological innovation represents a major pillar in developing the future of travel, whether through applications of artificial intelligence in managing operational processes within airports, or through the use of big data to improve travelers’ experience and develop air transport services, stressing the UAE’s keenness to adopt the latest digital solutions to ensure a more flexible and sustainable travel experience.

The Tourise World Tourism Summit, launched by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is one of the most prominent leading international initiatives that brings together governments, investors, innovators, thought leaders and decision-makers to unify efforts in shaping the features of the new generation of tourism based on sustainability, innovation, and integration between the public and private sectors.

The summit witnessed broad participation by a number of ministers and government officials from various countries of the world, and a number of experts and decision-makers in the public and private sectors working in the tourism, travel and hospitality sectors.

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