Tourism revenues account for more than 22 percent of the gross domestic product produced in the United Arab Emirates. Among the Middle Eastern countries, the UAE takes first place in the contribution of the tourism sector to national welfare.
According to the latest data from the World Travel and Tourism Council, the United Arab Emirates is ahead of Jordan and Lebanon in this indicator, in which tourism provides less than a fifth of GDP. The Council expects that the growth of tourism sector revenues in the country will exceed 13 percent this year.
The income of the Middle East countries from tourism this year is estimated at $ 250 billion. The total contribution of the tourism sector to the GDP of the countries of the region in 2008 will be on average more than 11 percent. According to the newspaper Al-Ittihad, in 2006, 7 million tourists visited the United Arab Emirates. It is expected that in 2015, only Dubai will receive 15 million foreign visitors. The profits of Dubai hotels in 2007 approached $ 3.5 billion. The tourism sector in all Arab countries employs 5.7 million people.
