Travel and tourism in the Middle East last year generated US$194.5 billion - or 8% of GDP - and supported nearly six million jobs, which is 7.8% of total employment.
The president and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has called for continued investment in travel and tourism in the Middle East, as a means of diversifying economies as oil revenues fall.
David Scowsill made the comments at the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) today in Dubai, stating that travel and tourism is an important sector for the Middle East region.
In 2015, this sector generated US$194.5 billion - or 8% of GDP - and supported nearly six million jobs, which is 7.8% of total employment.
According to WTTC research, government spending on travel and tourism in the Middle East is set to grow by 2.6% in 2016, and 3.5% per year over the next ten years.
Capital investment in the sector is forecast to rise by 5.2% this year and 5.4% per year to 2026.
While these growth levels are slightly higher than the world average, the data shows that they are the minimum that is needed in order for tourism to grow sustainably and to ensure resilience for economies which are oil dependent.
| Advertisement |
In his speech, Scowsill said: “Our research demonstrates that rather than switching off investment in travel amd tTourism as oil revenues fall, countries dependent on oil income would benefit greatly from investing in travel and tourism, to further diversify their economies and to develop additional income streams.
“It is critical that the public and private sectors together continue to drive growth through investing in transportation infrastructure, funding new hotels and tourism attractions, increasing destination marketing and continuing to improve visa processes.”
Despite significant challenges, particularly relating to safety and security in the region, travel and tourism performance has been strong. In 2015, 11 out of the 13 countries in the region experienced growth in the sector’s contribution to GDP, with Qatar showing the strongest growth at 23.7%, stimulated by tourism investment for the 2022 World Cup, followed by Kuwait at 13.4% and Bahrain at 7.6%.
Furthermore contribution to GDP grew by 4.2% in 2015 for travel and tourism in AHIC's host country, the UAE. This is well above the world average and reflects years of investment by the government and private sector in.
In 2015, government spending on travel and tourism was AED 27.4bn, 5.5% of the total, and capital investment was AED27.4 billion, 7.3% of the total.
The UAE is currently 28th in the world in terms of the size of its travel and tourism economy, with a total contribution of AED133.8 billion or 8.7% of GDP in 2015.
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
