The hotels operating in the UAE recorded a total revenue of Dh26bn ($7.08bn) in the first seven months of 2023, up 24% compared with the same period a year ago, according to WAM.

Minister of Economy and head of the Emirates Tourism Council Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri revealed that the country registered 16 million guests in this period, experiencing a growth of over 15% compared with the same period in 2022.

Approximately 56 million people booked hotels and the occupancy rate touched 75% between January to July, marking a 5% increase compared with the same period a year ago.

At the meeting of the council, Touq Al Marri stated that the number of hotels in the country has reached 1,224.

The council also discussed a range of topics, including the implementation process of the National Tourism Strategy 2031.

Furthermore, the country’s campaign, called World’s Coolest Winter, helped increase domestic tourism as well as promote natural sites and entertainment destinations.

The campaign, which is in its third edition, helped the hotels increase their revenues by 20% to Dh1.8bn.

The third edition of the campaign boosted the number of domestic tourists to 1.4 million, up 8% compared with its previous edition.

Touq Al Marri further said that its campaigns aim to achieve additional investments of Dh100bn for the tourism sector and contribute Dh450bn to the gross domestic product in 2031.

Additionally, the council announced the formation of a hospitality advisory committee, created to fuel the growth of the country’s tourism sector.

The committee plans to introduce tourism initiatives and programmes as well as promote communication with private sector institutions and companies operating in the hospitality sector.