Saudi, UAE make up 50% of MENA tourism, report says

UAE and Saudi Arabia travel and tourism industry currently accounts for 50% of the market share in the Middle East and North Africa, a report by MENA Research Partners claimed.

The research agency also forecasted that the MENA region’s tourism market is expected to reach a valuation of US $350 billion by 2027. In that time period, UAE and Saudi are expected to see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5%.

At present, the GCC countries are outperforming other global tourism sectors in regards to growth and spending with total contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) registered at 5% compared to 3.8% worldwide, the report said.

With more than 15 million inbound visitors to Dubai in 2017, the leisure tourism sector generated $115 billion in the region and was ranked sixth most visited city in the world.