The Economic Development of Tourism in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Purpose: The chapter aims to discuss the importance of economic development tourism in the United Arab Emirates and the role of entrepreneurship in financial growth, as it is an important aspect in the business environment of tourism. Having said that, the UAE has made remarkable progress in sustaining its economic growth and tourism development over the past decades.

Methodology: To review the importance of the economic development tourism in the United Arab Emirates and the role of entrepreneurship in financial growth, the authors have explored journals from the Scopus, Science direct, Google scholar, and EBSCOHost databases. Furthermore, the Latest reports from UNO and UAE are also examined to find the tourism statistics of past years.

Findings: This study explored the contribution of the tourism industry in enhancing the economic development of the country. This chapter highlighted the past and current trends in tourism in the UAE. Entrepreneurship is considered to be one of the major important outcomes of increased tourism in the country. UAE has also focused on every subject linked to tourism. Furthermore, the country has noted entrepreneurship as a driving factor for tourism. Therefore, various steps have been taken to encourage tourism and entrepreneurship, such as developing infrastructure, along with the implementation of tourism and entrepreneurial education.

Limitations: Like other research studies, this study also has some limitations. The latest reports available were of 2017 to 2019; therefore, current year trends are not explored extensively. Also, due to the scarcity of literature on entrepreneurial tourism in the UAE, this study has reviewed limited articles from UAE.

Social Implications: A more “integrative destination-marketing” process should be promoted with a concerted focus on social identity, cultural sustainability, and religiosity. The overall objective would, therefore, be to develop positive perceptions of destinations such as Dubai that are consistent with its Islamic roots, indigenous peoples, and social and cultural bases.

Originality: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this chapter is one of its own kind. There are no similar studies have been conducted in the context of the UAE. This study has opened the gates for future research in the tourism sector in UAE.

Citation

Papadopoulou, G. (2022), "The Economic Development of Tourism in the United Arab Emirates", Sindakis, S. and Aggarwal, S. (Ed.) Entrepreneurial Rise in the Middle East and North Africa: The Influence of Quadruple Helix on Technological Innovation (Advanced Strategies in Entrepreneurship, Education and Ecology), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 111-123. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80071-517-220221008