GCC Outbound Travel & Tourism Industry - Regional Synopsis
The UAE market is expected to hold the largest revenue share during the forecast period. The growth of the market can be attributed majorly to the rising expenditure on tour and travels followed by higher outbound travel. In contrast to the UAE's GDP in 2019, which was around USD 50 billion, the travel and tourism industry contributed a total of nearly USD 20 billion which makes up for around 5 percent of the GDP in 2020. In UAE, the total number of outbound trips was around 4 million in 2020. Out of which, around 30% of people went to Saudi Arabia, and around 17% went to the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the rising government initiative to boost the tourism market is expected to augment the market growth in the region. For instance, the UAE Tourism Strategy 2031 was introduced on Friday by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, in an effort to increase tourism's contribution to the country's gross domestic product to USD 122 billion annually by 2031.