UAE among world's top tourism earners in 2023, UN data shows

The UAE has risen from 13th to 6th globally on the list of top earners from international tourism, after logging $51.9 billion in international tourism receipts, UN tourism's May 2024 World tourism Barometer showed.

According to the United Nations' tourism agency, international tourism receipts rankings are led by the United States, earning $176 billion in 2023, followed by Spain ($92 billion), the United Kingdom ($74 billion), France ($69 billion) and Italy ($56 billion), with the UAE in sixth.

Following the above, destinations earning the most from international tourism in 2023 include Türkiye, Australia, Canada, Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Macao (China), India and Mexico which complete the top 15 list of tourism earners. 

Upward movements in the ranking among the top earners include the UK jumping to the 3rd position from 5th pre-pandemic, Türkiye from 12th to 7th, Canada from 15th to 9th, Saudi Arabia from 27th to 12th, and Mexico from 17th to 15th. 

Croatia (from 32nd to 25th), Morocco (from 41st to 31st) and the Dominican Republic (43rd to 34th) also moved up in the Top 50 ranking by receipts in 2023, as did Qatar (from 51st to 37th) and Colombia (50th to 44th).

WAM