Benchmarking UAE Tourism with Egypt,

Morocco and Tunisia

Recently, the UAE is considered one of the most preferred
destinations for tourists worldwide due to the exceptional
development it witnesses, among other things. The UAE
tourism is growing faster day after day in order to offer better
services and be up to expectations. In this context, DCCI has
conducted a study to benchmark the UAE tourism with other
key player from Arab countries, namely Egypt, Morocco and
Tunisia. Both demand and supply side factors are emphasized in
the analysis.
years. As the table above shows, the UAE had a room occupancy
rate of 68% compared to 65% in Egypt. Moreover, both
Morocco and Tunisia showed higher number of hotels (632 and
790, respectively) in 2003 with growth rates of 6% and 1.7%
compared to the previous year. Their number of beds was also
superior to that of the UAE. Morocco has 109 thousand beds
while Tunisia has 226 thousand beds. However, the beds
occupancy rate in the UAE (64%) is higher than those in
Morocco and Tunisia (55% and 42%, respectively).

Demand Side Table 1: Hotels, Rooms, Beds, and Occupation Percentage

The demand side factors are captured by tourist arrivals and (2001-2003)
receipts. Arrivals to the UAE in 2003 (i.e. 5.9 million) are more Room Beds
than arrivals to Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia (i.e. 5.7, 4.7, 5.1 Country Year Hotels Rooms Beds Occupancy Occupancy
million, respectively). More interestingly, the UAE number of UAE 2001 351 31,786 51,951 60% 55%
arrivals annually surpasses the country’s total population at 2002 364 34,536 56,142 67% 61%
146%. However, one should note that arrivals to migration 2003 366 38,402 60,572 68% 64%
countries such as the UAE could have different meaning due to Egypt 2001 1,048 120,000 _ 61% _
the significance of labor import and business entries, as 2002 _ _ _ 61% _
registration of arrivals does not distinguish between arrivals
2003 1,152 136,500 _ 65% _
purely for tourism purposes and others.
Morocco 2001 _ _ _ _ _
While arrivals per population (APP) in the UAE resulted to be 2002 594 49,396 102,097 _ 51%
very high (146%), the ratios in the three other Arab countries 2003 632 52,918 109,615 _ 55%
were lower. The APP ratio in Egypt was estimated at 8% in Tunisia 2001 755 _ 205,605 _ 55%
2003. A little bit higher was the APP ratio of Morocco (15%). 2002 777 _ 222,018 _ 44%
The ratio of Tunisia stood at 52%. In sum, the UAE surpasses 2003 790 _ 226,153 _ 42%
all three countries in terms of both absolute number of arrivals Source: UAE Ministry of Economy & Planning; Egyptian Ministry of Tourism;
and APP. Moroccan Government Tourist Office in Dubai; L'Office National du Tourisme
Tunisien (O.N.T.T.)
The UAE receipts in 2003 were around US$ 1.4 billion. The
other three Arab countries showed higher receipts than the More interesting, despite the growth of the number of hotels
UAE. Specifically, Egypt receipts stood at US$ 4.5 billion and beds in the UAE and Morocco, the beds occupancy rate
compared to US$ 3.2 and 1.5 billion for Morocco and Tunisia, recorded an increase in 2003 compared to 2002. Similar
respectively. Furthermore, receipts per arrivals in the UAE scenario applies for the case of room occupancy rate in Egypt. In
(24%) are lower than other Arab countries in 2003. Egypt for contrast, growth in beds number in Tunisia resulted in lowering
instance has the highest ratio of receipts per arrivals (79%) beds occupancy rate for the same year. Hotels in the UAE seem
followed by Morocco (68%) and Tunisia (29%). This indicates in average larger than those of Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. In
that the high figure of UAE arrivals do consist significantly of 2003, the room per hotel ratio in the UAE was around 1,933
workers arrivals. rooms and the bed per hotel was 2,215 beds. In Egypt, room per
hotel ratio is around 118 rooms. In Morocco the rooms per
On the other hand, the UAE has the highest ratio of receipts per hotel ratio was estimated at 93 rooms and the beds per hotel
population in 2003 (35%). Egypt has only 6% while Morocco ratio was about 198 beds. In Tunisia the beds per hotel ratio was
and Tunisia have 10% and 15%, respectively. This result is around 286 beds.
driven by the fact that the UAE population (4.3 million) is very Finally, the UAE must set up a plan that is based on usual
small compared to the other Arab countries (71 million in standards as well as going further through focusing on the
Egypt, 31 million in Morocco and 10 million in Tunisia). following tourism areas: eco-tourism, accessible tourism for
disabled people, culture, desert, sea, sports & leisure, etc. In
Supply Side addition, each Emirate should adopt distinguished tourism style
Supply side factors are captured by the number of hotels, rooms, in order to foster intra-Emirates tourism. Establishing a
beds and occupation percentage. As Table 1 shows, the UAE committee to foster tourism in each emirate which must channel
number of hotels in 2003 reached 366 hotels comprising in an overall countrywide plan would be fruitful. The proposed
around 38 thousand rooms and 60 thousand beds. These figures tourism plan should aim at:
represent an increase of 0.5% in hotels, 11% in rooms and 8% ● Increasing hosting capacity.
in beds compared to 2002. ● Establishing added value tourism networks combining
different destinations and attractions.
For Egypt, its number of hotels and rooms surpasses with ● Aggressive marketing worldwide promotion.
significant difference those of the UAE. Specifically, Egypt ● Enhancing arranged holidays.
recorded 1,152 hotels and 120 thousand rooms in 2003. Similar ● Initiating GCC cooperation in promotional programs of
to the UAE, the room occupancy rate was increasing in recent tourism.