UAE Tourism Ready for Major Winter Boost as Officials Declare 'The Descending Is Over'

The UAE's tourism industry is actively investing and expanding, with leaders betting on strong foundations to drive a robust recovery through the winter season and into 2027. Hotel occupancy in Dubai reached 66 per cent in August—recovering significantly from March lows and marking 89 per cent of the levels seen during the same period last year.

Speaking at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, Abdulla bin Touq, Minister of Economy and Tourism, declared that the downturn has ended. “Let's prepare for ascending. We're going to take off,” he told the opening session, emphasizing that the sector's structural strength allowed it to navigate past challenges successfully.

Data from Trip.com indicates strong travel demand, with flight orders to the UAE from Gulf Co-operation Council neighbors increasing by over 60 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2026. Siddharth Sudhakar, general manager for the Middle East and North Africa market at Trip.com, noted that hotel bookings grew by 130 per cent, while attraction and activity bookings rose by 120 per cent, with Saudi Arabia serving as a key source market alongside the UK, Russia, France, the US, and India.

Major airlines are also scaling up operations. Emirates is approaching the winter season at roughly 93 per cent of its pre-Iran war capacity, having carried over 8.6 million passengers in July and August. The airline has retrofitted 104 planes, added premium economy to 137 aircraft, and expanded its network to include Helsinki and additional daily frequencies to Accra, Tokyo Narita, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hanoi. Meanwhile, low-cost carrier flydubai has surpassed the 100-aircraft threshold, planning 11 new Boeing 737 MAX deliveries and a business-class retrofit program led by chief executive Ghaith Al Ghaith.

To capture broader interest, the new UAE Grand Tour initiative was launched this week featuring seven curated multi-emirate itineraries. Industry leaders like Eddy Tannous of Rotana Hotel Management Corporation and Tarik Fadil of Agoda highlighted a growing focus on secondary markets such as Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman, and Fujairah, which now account for 35 per cent of UAE-related searches on Agoda.

Despite challenges such as shorter booking lead times, destinations are adapting through enhanced booking flexibility and parallel investments in business events and infrastructure, championed by figures like Iyad Rasbey of the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority. Diversification across various revenue streams remains central to ensuring long-term success for the country's tourism sector.