Mega Initiatives As tourism recovers and flourishes in GCC, endeavours relevant to the industry are also in progress. For instance, many member countries are boosting their accommodation and attraction developments. Real estate consultancy Knight Frank revealed that Dubai completed about 9,200 more hotel rooms by the end of the year 2023. Then, by 2024, the most populous UAE city will also witness the rise of Ciel Dubai. At 365 metres, it will be the world’s tallest hotel. It will house 1,000 rooms spread across 82 floors. Qatar, which hosted the tourist-attracting FIFA World Cup 2022, is also poised to witness a rise in its accommodations. Estimates show that its room supply could hit 53,400 by 2028. This is in time for the influx of tourist arrivals to the country. According to forecasts, Qatar could have an annual influx of 7 million tourists by 2030. Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, the Amaala project’s ecotourism initiatives promise over 3,000 rooms across 25 hotels, spearheading a 67.1% increase in room supply in the next three years. As the number of accommodation options rises, industry players ensure that quality isn’t compromised. Mastercard report emphasised that Dubai and Riyadh scored high in luxury and 3-star hotel satisfaction ratings. On average, these two cities earned an index of 71 and 72, respectively. They boast a wide margin when compared to Paris (58), London (43), and New York City (41). Eco-friendly and sustainable There is also a notable emphasis on sustainable tourism in the GCC. Saudi Arab’s Red Sea Global — the entity born out of merging the businesses that are developing the aforementioned Amaala project and the Red Sea initiative — aims to contribute a 30% net conservation benefit to the projects’ area by 2040. In Kuwait, XZero City strives to establish a ground-breaking standard in environmentally-conscious hospitality. This upcoming 1,600-hectare sustainable community is designed to offer a net-zero carbon lifestyle. It will feature a five-star eco-resort and lodges, among others. Apart from the structures themselves, the region also shifts the spotlight on sustainable transport. According to Dubai’s electric vehicle (EV) roadmap, the city aspires to see more than 42,000 EVs on its roads by 2030. Additionally, the UAE city eyes to roll out self-driving air taxis within three years. When introduced, these electricity-powered autonomous vehicles will substantially reduce travel times between the four main areas that vertiports will connect. These areas include Dubai International Airport, Palm Jumeirah, Downtown Dubai and Dubai Marina. Fundamentally, the boom in GCC travel & tourism can also be traced to the region’s unique appeal to travellers. And it’s one that melds modern and traditional experiences. For example, iconic landmarks like the Burj Khalifa and the Louvre Abu Dhabi coexist with cultural gems like the Al Ain Oasis in the UAE. On the other hand, the island nation of Bahrain has landmarks such as the Bahrain World Trade Centre, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Bahrain Pearling Trail and the ancient Qal’at al-Bahrain (Bahrain Fort).
UAE’s united focus on tourism The UAE too is in the midst of implementation of its own ambitious spending plans to boost tourism. Almost each of the seven emirates has lined up its own plans for adding hotel rooms, attractions, adventure tourism and the like to keep pace in the sector. The mood in the UAE is especially upbeat as its performance in 2023 was better than initially envisaged with strong pent-up demand being unlocked in both leisure and commercial tourism. The hotel occupancy rates continued to rise steadily throughout the year thanks to the Expo2020 in Dubai that began in October 2021 and concluded on March 31, 2022. With over 23 million persons visiting the Expo alone, Dubai raced ahead to become the world’s busiest international airport in 2023. With the confidence of the UAE on the upswing, the country has major plans for tourism development, notably theme parks, gigantesque shopping centres and hundreds of hotels, besides the world’s first Virgin Hyperloop transit system. In 2023, the GCC’s resilience came to the forefront. Collectively, the region outperformed the overall international travel industry’s recovery by a remarkable 45 percent, according to a report from the Mastercard Economic Institute. Moreover, if the GCC were a single country, it would secure a spot among the top five most in-demand tourist destinations globally. Meanwhile, in terms of inbound tourism spending in 2023, the region ranked third, recording about $45 billion. Notably, visitors to Dubai outspent those in London or Paris, renowned luxurious destinations, by around $300 per card. This inbound spending supports the local economy and is an increasingly important part of the tourism industry for the GCC region, noted the report. Huge investments Building upon already impressive numbers — and with its unified visa’s potential to boost the region’s attractiveness as a global travel epicentre — a bright future for the GCC tourism market awaits. This is a particularly welcome development for a region whose majority of the member states aspire to minimize oil dependency and expand revenue sources. Saudi Arab, the largest oil exporter worldwide (about 9 million barrels per day), eyes to elevate the tourism industry’s share to over 10% of the GDP by 2030. Aligning with its Vision 2030 program, a substantial investment of $1 trillion is earmarked for the sector over the next decade. And for this year alone, it has a target of attracting 25 million international tourists. Simultaneously, the UAE Tourism Strategy 2031 endeavours to boost the tourism sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP. Specifically, it targets to inject $122.5 billion by the said year. To achieve this, it aims to attract 40 million hotel guests. As part of Oman’s Vision 2040, a key initiative is to escalate tourism revenues to $22.5 billion annually by 2040. This marks a substantial increase from 2019’s $2.5 billion.
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INVEST GCC: DAVOS 2024
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